Becoming Untangled
by Beebow
Summary: Flynn Rider is a very cocky and sly male who enjoys living his life in regards of only one person- himself. Rapunzel is an aspiring artist who tries to remain under the radar as the new princess of Corona. What happens when these two worlds collide?
1. Chapter 1: The Green Eyed Girl

"How are you and Clarissa doing anyway? Is it anything serious?" Brock, the local bread man, stuffed a couple of loafs into a small basket and handed it to the women he was currently helping.

Flynn shrugged and gave Brock a cocky smirk, "Clarissa's fine. You know I have a thing for brunettes and everything, but I don't really know how much longer I plan to keep her around."

Brock shook his head and turned toward Flynn. Flynn could tell that he was going to receive some sort of lecture and decided to skip out before things got all serious. He put his hand up and smiled, "Save it. I know what you're going to say, but you know there's no use in saying it." Flynn gave Brock a strong pat on the back, "I'm going to head down to the dock for a little while. See you later." He adjusted his satchel on his shoulder and started to walk down the stone path to the water.

Once Flynn reached the dock, he took of his satchel and took a seat so that his legs were dangling off the side of the wood. He dug out a loaf of bread that he had swiped from Brock when he wasn't looking and took a few bites from it. He looked out at the lake and let the sun warm the right side of his face. It wasn't long before he would have to go in for his shift at the Snuggly Duckling and he planned on enjoying the warm weather as much as he could. Flynn tilted his head back to look up at the clouds, trying to let his body and his mind unwind. As he brought his head back down he heard a loud splash to the left of him and turned to see what had caused the noise, but only saw ripples in the water where the sound had came from. He looked back up at the stone wall that surrounded the side of the lake to see if anyone had thrown a rock or something, but all he saw was a large cream colored bag and a lavender dress laid neatly on the wall. Quickly snapping his head back to lake, Flynn saw a head submerge from the water and could tell that the person was definitely female.

Flynn watched as the girl swam back toward the other dock not far from him and climbed out of the water. She was stripped down to only her underwear and she looked quite young, possibly eighteen or so. He figured he should probably look away as she walked back to retrieve her dress and bag, but for some reason he couldn't. Someone had to be seriously out of their mind if they really wanted to dive into the lack in their underwear in Corona. It was definitely something that was quite frowned upon in their society. Flynn continued to watch her as she twisted her brown hair and let the water fall on the stone and then quickly slipped her dress back on. He was about to look away when the girl suddenly looked out at the water as if she were looking for something particular. Flynn felt himself sharply inhale as he noticed her big, green eyes for the first time. They were absolutely stunning and he wished that he could get a closer look. Actually she was just stunning period. Her brown hair showed a hint of gold due to the sunshine, he complexion was radiant even after jumping into the cold water, and her figure was perfect. Flynn held his breath and anticipated her eyes to flicker down at him at any second, but instead the girl just ran her fingers through her hair and then walked away as if nothing had ever happened. Flynn shook his head as he turned his attention back the lake. He had never seen any woman pull something like that before and based on how comfortable she seemed with the situation, he could tell it wasn't the first time that she had done something like this.

The kingdom bell began to chime behind Flynn indicating that it was five o'clock. Seeing as his shift started at five thirty, Flynn decided he should probably make his way over to the Snuggly Ducking. He got up slowly and groaned once he was fully standing up. Clarissa said she was going to surprise him at work, meaning she would most likely stick around till the end of his shift and he would be forced to spend time with her afterward. _Why do I have to get myself into these things?_

* * *

"Hey there stranger," Clarissa attempted to capture Flynn's attention by giving him a sexy smile, but he was more focused on the mugs he was cleaning.

"Hey. What are you still doing here?" Flynn looked up from the current mug he was cleaning to the clock that sat on the wall. It was about 11 o'clock and they were closing early for the night. He realized that she probably wanted to mess around a little tonight and he wasn't completely against that idea, but he just didn't like kicking her out or trying to sneak out in the morning.

"I thought I would come and surprise you. I figured we could go walk around Corona a little bit and then maybe head back to my place." Clarissa leaned over the counter, which caused her low cut top to slide even lower and expose more of her chest. "Sound like fun?" The gorgeous brunette's voice came out very sultry and at this point she could have had any guy eating out of the palm of her hand.

However, Flynn was not amused. "Sure. Let me just put these glasses away and say goodbye to Hook and then we can go." Flynn placed the classes beneath the bar and then disappeared to say his goodbyes.

Once he returned he saw Clarissa standing at the door with a giddy look on her face. It was obvious to she was completely head over heels for Flynn, or so she thought, while he was just having fun with her. He didn't actually have those sort of feelings for her, he just wanted to get laid at the end of the day and since she was easy on the eyes and decent in bed, he figured it wouldn't hurt.

Flynn remained silent as Clarissa began to talk his ear off. The only things he could really make out were that she was hit on by some "nasty" man at the book store earlier that day. The sole purpose of telling the story was most likely just to make him jealous.

"Do you want to go down by the lake?" Clarissa smiled at Flynn. She knew that looking out at the water was one of his favorite things to do.

He shrugged and flashed her a smile back. "Sure." The two made there way down the walk way toward the lake and stopped at the same stone wall he had seen the green eyed girl as before. As he leaned on his elbows and started to look at the moonlight reflecting on the water, he couldn't help but think about the girl. He knew almost everyone in Corona, but he had never seen her before, he was sure of it. He wouldn't forget a face like hers and her strange nature, which for some reason seemed more attractive than anything else. He wasgetting ahead of himself though. He had just seen her for the first time a few hours ago and didn't even know her whatsoever. One thing was for sure though, he wanted to see her again.

"Hello? Earth to Flynn. Did you hear what I said?"

Flynn quickly turned his head toward Clarissa and blinked at her a couple of times, "What? Oh, no. Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Are you okay? You're acting strange tonight. Did I do something?" A panicked expression took over her features and Flynn was afraid that might actually start crying.

"No! You didn't do anything. I guess I'm just tired is all." He shrugged again and quickly cleared his mind. He gave her a cocky smile and turned his body toward hers. He reached out his arm, placed his hand on her hip, and brought her closer to him. "How about you and I go back to your place and relax?" Flynn leaned in and caught Clarissa's lips with his own. He could tell that she was practically melting in her arms and gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Once they broke their kiss Clarissa gave Flynn what was supposed to be a seductive smile. "Okay, let's go." She intertwined her fingers in his and they both turned around together to walk back up the road.

Flynn continued to smile at Clarissa, but then turned his head in order to lead them both in the right direction. However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a familiar lavender dress pass about ten feet in front of them. It was the girl from the lake again and she looked even more stunning than she had before. Now that her hair was dry, Flynn could see her natural waves as her hair blew behind her as she walked. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that Clarissa and him were even standing there and kept her bright green eyes focused ahead of her. Flynn continued to watch her as she walked away and could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before. He wanted to call out to the girl, but he didn't dare.

Flynn's trance was broken when he felt a hard squeeze from Clarissa's hand in his own and her voice asking if he was okay. She sounded annoyed and he assumed that she probably interpreted his actions as him checking the girl out- which he technically was.

"Yeah, sorry about that. She just scared me." He turned to Clarissa and gave her what seemed like a genuine smile. He had to play his cards just right if he still planned on getting laid tonight.

His words proved to be convincing as he saw Clarissa's face light up and felt her bump him with her hip. "That's all right. I guess I'll just have to work extra hard to calm you down." She gave him a quick wink and Flynn did everything in his power not to shoot her a disgusted look back.

Flynn didn't say anything and just lead them up the stone path to Clarissa's place. The whole way there she continued to ramble about meaningless things, but all Flynn could focus on was the mysterious girl he had now seen twice that day.


	2. Chapter 2: Endless Searching

Flynn's head was swimming as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. He was wearing nothing but his underwear and could feel someone laying next to him. He looked over to see Clarissa facing the other direction- her hair was completely mated from the events from last night. Flynn threw out a couple of curse words in his head and slowly got up from the bed so he wouldn't wake her.

Dashing around the room, Flynn dressed himself and was out of Clarissa's place within five minutes. He didn't want to get suckered into spending the whole day with her so he figured it was better to skip out before she could try to give him the guilt trip.

Flynn found a random alleyway a couple blocks from Clarissa's place and ducked into it, leaning his back against the wall once he was concealed. He was hoping that she would sleep for another hour or so that she wouldn't wake up, discover that he was missing, and come find him. The plan was to somehow put distance between him and her, as soon as possible. Flynn wracked his brain for any possible place he could go at this particular moment in time, but nothing came to mind. He continued to lean against the wall and thought about what had happened the night before. Clarissa and him had sex- she had been into it, he had not. But before that they had been sitting down by the lake and he had seen that girl again. The one with killer green eyes and gorgeous brown hair. She had managed to make him stop in his tracks just by walking by. Why was that? He assumed it was only because she was undeniably beautiful and anyone would have reacted the same way.

He suddenly realized what he wanted to do. He wanted to find that girl, or at least try to figure out if anyone else knew of her. Flynn's mind immediately jumped to Brock. Seeing as he was the local baker, he was sure that Brock had most likely seen the girl and would know who she was.

Flynn leaned off of the wall and looked around the corner slowly to make sure Clarissa wasn't awake and looking for him. Once he saw the coast was clear he made his way to the kingdom square and to the bakery that sat on the right of him. He walked through the door and immediately smelled the bread Brock was currently making.

When Brock saw Flynn he smiled and stopped preparing the bread in his hands. "Flynn! What brings you in today?"

"Oh you know," Flynn smiled and shrugged, "Just coming to see you."

Brock's smile grew and he laughed, "Why do I find that hard to believe?"

Flynn approached the counter and leaned against it, "Well believe it."

Brock laughed again and continued to prepare his bread without saying another word. Flynn watched Brock's gentle hands work on the bread and tried to plan some sort of way to say what was on his mind. He finally cleared his throat and stared at Brock's face.

"Hey Brock, have you seen this one girl who has brown hair, a lavender dress just above her knees, and carries a white bag?"

Brock looked over at Flynn and widened his eyes in what looked like disbelief. "Oh Flynn, please don't tell me…" Flynn sighed and shook his head. "Forget it. I know what you're thinking." Flynn put on a deep voice that was supposed to represent Brock's, "You leave that poor innocent girl alone, Rider. She's a sweet girl and you already have Clarissa. Blah, blah, blah." He looked at Brock and smiled a little. Brock wore a blank expression though and started shaking his head at him. Flynn wasn't sure if it was to show some sort of disapproval or what, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Flynn shrugged and patted the counter, "See you later, buddy." Brock still didn't say anything and just continued to shake his head as he turned around and pulled a pan of bread out of the oven. Flynn walked out of the bakery and stopped to look around. He wanted to find the girl. He didn't know exactly why, but he felt like he had to see her again. Brock had been a horrible source of information and now all Flynn could do was continue roaming Corona in hopes of somehow spotting her. It was worth a shot.

He started down the stone path and popped his head into every shop, searched every face, and gazed down every alley in hopes of finding her.

Two hours must have passed and Flynn still had no luck. Where could she possibly be? It was common to see basically everyone who lived in Corona multiple times throughout the day, yet he hadn't managed to see her once. He had never seen her before yesterday either. Had she just moved here or something? He had only been in Corona for a few months, but he still knew almost every face.

Due his frustration, Flynn headed down to the lake for probably the fourth time that day and leaned against the wall where he had seen the girl twice the day before. He let his eyes focus across the lake and observe the trees on the other side. After a minute or so, he dropped his head and closed his eyes in an attempt to relax his mind and muscles that seemed a little tense.

Suddenly Flynn heard a beautiful humming coming from below him that consisted of a simple melody. He slowly brought up his head and looked out to the dock to the right of him, feeling his jaw drop a little. There she was. She was the one humming and she was currently painting away on a large paper pad in front of her. Flynn could just make out the blues and greens that seemed to represent the water of the lake and a couple of lily pads that sat in front of her. It was obvious that she knew what she was doing and from what he could tell her painting looked phenomenal. He wanted to head down to the dock and get a better look, maybe even chat her up a little bit, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He felt frozen. It was as if his legs were refusing to function and would only permit him to stare from a distance. What was the deal? He just wanted to talk to her and see what this girl was all about. She was more beautiful than any other girl he had ever seen and her green eyes were captivating in a way. How could he resist talking to her and possibly convincing her to come back to his apartment with him? A face like that had to be great in bed, right?

Flynn licked his lips and watched the girl as she put her paintbrush down next to her and ran a hand through her hair. She then held out her picture out in front of her giving both her and him a better view. It was breath taking. It looked almost real and Flynn couldn't help but feel greatly impressed. The girl tilted her head to the side and examined the picture for herself, but she didn't seem quite as pleased with it as he did. She placed her painting down to her side and began to put her paint and brushes away in her large bag. After everything was packed away she leaned back on her hands and look out at the lake. Flynn couldn't stop thinking about how great it would be to sit down there next to her and watch the water. He mentally scolded himself. He had been looking for her all day and yet when he finally saw her he couldn't work up the courage to say anything to her. Normally he was really good at this sort of thing. The girl suddenly stood up and slid her bag over her shoulder and the painting pad under her arm. She took one last look at the lake and then turned around. Her eyes flickered up and looked right at Flynn and he felt his heart start to race. He realized that he should probably look away because he had just been caught, but instead he couldn't break their eye contact. After a few seconds, the girl gave him a sweet smile and then looked away as she continued to walk down the dock, up the stairs, and just to the right of him to the stone path again. He dropped his eyes, but then snuck another look to see her clutch the strap of her bag and then start back up the hill.

Flynn turned his head back to the lake once she finally disappeared and pressed his lips together tightly. His legs suddenly decided to cooperate again and he felt the urge to race up the hill to catch up to her and actually talk to her now. However, he just continued to stare out at the water and felt his body become completely numb. What had he really expected to happen once he saw her? Did he expect her to throw herself in his arms and allow him to make his way with him? Yikes. It was obvious that she was a girl of class and she seemed quite innocent. That could just make this all a lot more fun though. Her smile had been killer though and to finally have those beautiful green eyes stare back at him made Flynn feel like he was on cloud nine. Flynn dug his hands down into his pockets and turned away from the wall, walking in the direction of the bridge.

* * *

With his leg bouncing nervously, Flynn sat at the counter at the Snuggly Duckling listening to the people around him babbling about nonsense. He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair in annoyance. Hookhand gave him a questioning look from down the bar and made his way over.

"Hey Rider. What's eating at you?"

Flynn looked up at him and shrugged, "Nothing. Don't even worry about it."

"Well, I kind of have to worry. I've never seen you like this before. It's a bit concerning." Hook let out a husky laugh, filled a mug with some beer, and passed it to him. "Drink up, Rider. You seem like you need it."

Flynn gave him a weak smile and nodded, "Thanks." He didn't touch the beer and instead leaned back a little, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stick up when he heard a familiar voice call behind him.

"Flynn Rider!" He closed his eyes tightly and wished that he could be anywhere else in that particular moment. He could hear Clarissa's heels pounding against the floor boards and could tell that she was absolutely pissed with him. Her hand was suddenly on his shoulder and Flynn opened his eyes. He turned toward her and flashed a cocky smile.

"Oh hey there, gorgeous."

"Don't give me that, Flynn. What the hell happened this morning?"

Flynn gave her a clueless look "What do you mean?"

She scowled at him and he was waiting for her to slap him, "You bailed on me without some sort of note or saying goodbye. I bet you don't even have a good reason for leaving do you?"

He had to think fast. If he ever wanted to get with this girl again he had to try to fix everything. "Well, I was told I had to come into work early to unload some of the new boxes and Hook her said he would cut off my left hand if I didn't get here at seven this morning. So, when I woke up late I had to race out of your apartment and I just barely made it here on time." He sounded convincing enough, after all, lying was his specialty.

Clarissa gave him a skeptical look and then looked at Hook, who had been ears dropping, "Is that true?"

Flynn shot Hook a look, clueing him to agree to the story. Hook sighed and gave a quick nod, "Yup. He came bursting through the door and was cutting it pretty close. Flynn forgot to mention that he told me that he couldn't wait to see you again tonight though and spend more time with you." Hook smiled smugly toward Flynn, laughed, and then walked to bring another customer a beer.

"Thanks a lot, buddy!" Flynn called after him in frustration. He turned back to Clarissa who didn't seem to notice the sarcasm behind his words. She was currently giving him a loving and flattered look that made him feel a little smug. He smiled back at her, but didn't say anything. He was stuck with this girl for another night. The thought of sitting through her pointless stories and stupid attempts to make everything between them seem romantic was agonizing.

"You really want to spend more time with me tonight?"

No. "Yeah."

"Oh Flynn!" She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into the left side of his head. Flynn could see Hook laughing down the bar and he shot him a dirty look. He would definitely have to create some sort of plan to get him back.

Clarissa pulled back and Flynn quickly smiled at her once again. She looked like she was literally about to cry.

"Should we get out of here then, Mr. Rider?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Flynn mumbled, took a swig of his beer, and then stood up from his stool.

As they walked out, Flynn heard Hook call behind him. "Have a good night you two!"

* * *

Flynn heard Clarissa moan loudly beneath him as he thrust into her one last time and slowly pulled out of her, leaning back to his knees. He got up from the bed, peeled the condom off, and threw it away in the trash can.

"Oh my God, Flynn! You're so amazing." He could hear her breathing heavy behind him as he cleaned up a bit.

He turned around and smirked, "I know, right?" He laid back down on the bed and tried to put as much distance as he could between them, but she immediately scooted over and wrapped her arm around his torso. They laid there for a few seconds completely silent, but both fully awake.

"Flynn?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

Flynn looked at her and raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Why?"

"Well, you just seem…distant. The whole time we were having sex you just didn't seem to be that into it."

Technically she was right. Flynn didn't really get anything out the sex, but he wasn't about to admit that. "I was really into it. I was just more focused on pleasing you tonight than myself." He flashed her his pearly whites and brought his hand up to rub her arm. She smiled back at him, obviously buying his words. She nuzzled into his chest and he could feel her breathing grow deeper as she fell asleep. He almost felt bad for lying to her like that and making her believe that he actually cared for her. Almost. Flynn let out a small sigh and looked up at ceiling, trying to think of some excuse he could tell her for him sneaking out once again.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting Rapunzel

"All I'm saying is that if you're not interested in her anymore then you should just cut the girl off. What's the point in keeping her around if she just bugs you and the sex isn't even that good?" Hookhand put down the glass he was currently cleaning and moved on to the next one. "Seriously Rider, I've seen the way women look at you. You could have any girl that you wanted."

Flynn threw the current cloth he was using to clean his own set of glasses onto the counter and shrugged. "I just feel like Clarissa has become a little too attached. You should see the way the girl looks at me, Hook. I swear she thinks that we're soul mates or something. What if I were to tell her that it was over and then she went totally insane? I can't handle that." He shook his head and hopped over the counter. Flynn had just spent another morning sneaking out of Clarissa's apartment, but this time he actually left her a note saying he got called into work, even though he had not. He knew if she woke up she would come looking for him though, so he tried to make the story believable.

"But," Flynn turned around to look at Hook and smirked, "I have my eyes on another girl. I think by the end of the day I should have her eating out of the palm of my hand. So if you catch me with a brunette wearing a lavender dress, don't bother me." Flynn winked and ran a hand through his hair.

Hook stopped cleaning the current glass in his hands and gave Flynn the same look Brock had given him the day before. "Wait…did you just say brunette wearing a lavender dress?"

"Uh..yeah." Why was everyone making such a big deal about this girl? Every time he mentioned her people seemed to be suddenly shaken up. It just didn't make sense.

"Flynn…you do realize that….that girl is…." Flynn let out a sigh as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

"Please don't tell me that you're going to lecture me too?" He opened his eyes and looked at Hook who only shook his head and put down his glass.

"I'm not going to lecture you. I know that when you have your mind set on something that you'll do whatever it takes to get it. Don't say that I didn't warn you though."

Flynn rolled his eyes and headed toward the door. "Well, I'm out of here. If Clarissa stops in and asks where I am…tell her I'm indisposed."

* * *

"You like that?"

Flynn turned around to see a strange woman with tan skin, straight black hair, and evil green eyes smiling at him. She looked like a complete nut case, but then again he had seen her before. But from where?

"Yeah, it's…uh….breath taking actually." He continued to admire the beautiful sun painting on the building wall in front of him. The artist bordered the sun with what looked like purple vines, making the yellow of the actual sun more vibrant.

"Indeed it is. Our very own princess of Corona painted this particular piece for us. She's very talented." The woman looked at Flynn with pride as if the girl was her very own daughter.

Flynn kept his expression blank and just nodded at her. Suddenly a bell began to chime behind them and Rider turned to look at the large clock mounted on one of the buildings.

"Oh look at the time. Looks like morning art classes are out. I better get going." The woman started to hobble off toward a building that people were now flooding from. Each of them was carrying a sketch pad, art box, some artwork, or a couple of pencils in their hand. Flynn had never really spent much time in this part of the kingdom, but then again he didn't really have a reason to. This area was particularly meant for hobby classes that some of the residents liked to partake in.

Flynn continued to watch as all the people exited the building. He felt his eyes widen slightly as they caught a hint of lavender. Sure enough, after a few moments the crowd separated a little and he could see her full lavender dress and flowing brown hair. He was yearning to see her green eyes once again, but they were currently focused on a book the girl held in her hands.

This was the girl who Flynn hadn't ever seen before two days ago and now he was basically seeing her everywhere. Maybe she had just moved here. Or maybe it was just luck. Flynn let his eyes follow the girl as she made her way toward the shops, somehow managing not to run into anyone. He shifted on his feet a little in order to test if they were actually working this time. He was going to talk to her, but he just needed some sort of plan. He couldn't go up to her and ask her about the book she was currently reading or any art classes, but he could use the one talent he had. Flynn looked at the paintings that were wedged under her arm and smiled. The plan was to slip them out from under her arm and walk away with them without her noticing. Then he could turn around, tap her on the shoulder, and return the paintings. If she was like most other girls she would be overwhelmingly thankful and ask to somehow repay him for his good deeds. Well, it was worth a shot.

Flynn started walking until he was about thirty feet in front of the girl. He turned and started walking right toward her, eyeing the paintings under her arm. Once he got close enough he gently slipped them out from underneath her arm and was glad to see that she hadn't noticed as he walked on. Flynn could feel a smile slowly start making its way onto his face. He felt triumphant. He had managed to take her paintings without her or anyone else noticing and now he could just turn around and go give them back to her.

Just as Flynn started to turn around he felt someone slam into him making him and whoever had tackled him tumble downward. Flynn fell to the ground and quickly rolled over in order to fight whoever it was who had attacked him. He became completely frozen though when he found himself staring up in the girl's green eyes instead, and boy did she look angry. He thought about pushing her off of him, but soon she had his arms pinned to the ground. For such a small thing she sure was strong.

"What do you think you're doing with my paintings?" Her voice was high and even though she was obviously angry, it still seemed sweet and kind.

Flynn was speechless. This was the girl he had been watching for the past few days and he was finally talking to her, but obviously not under the best circumstances. If things had gone according to plan he probably would have looked like a hero right now. However, now he had to make up some sort of lie in order to hide his original intent.

"I…uh….well I…." Flynn stopped and cleared his throat and then started over again, "Well, they're really good. I thought I could possibly cash them in and get some money for them."

The girl raised one of eyebrows and looked as if she were not amused. Flynn could barely focus on just how unhappy she seemed to be with him and let his mind linger on that fact that he was finally staring into her big green eyes up close, and the fact that she was currently on top of him.

She finally let go of his wrists and leaned back slightly. "That's one of the stupidest things that I've ever heard. My paintings are not worth anything."

Flynn was completely aware that her paintings would probably make some sort of profit at one of the shops around Corona, but that wasn't the real reason why he had decided to swipe them from her now was it? Why hadn't she called any guards over yet though? Any sane person probably would have by now. Although, they were currently around a corner where everyone else couldn't see them, which was probably for the best.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, sweetheart." The girl's eyes narrowed and Flynn could feel his lip twitch slightly into a smile. She looked quite adorable when she was annoyed and plus he couldn't help but be a little entertained by what was going on here.

"Are you sure that's the reason why you took my paintings?" She lifted a brow and gave Flynn a skeptical look. It was obvious to him that this girl wasn't like Clarissa or any of the other girls that he had messed around with before. She was sharp and didn't seem to really buy his act.

"Of course. What other reason would I have to just come up and take your paintings from under your arm?" Flynn figured she would relax after he reassured her, but she continued to stare at him with an uncertain expression.

"Well, I don't believe you."

"What?" Flynn furrowed his brow and stared up into her green eyes. Why was she still on top of him anyway?

"I said, I don't believe you. If that was really your plan then I don't think you would just admit it like that. Normally that sort of answer is the one a person tries to cover up with other lies or excuses, yet it's the first one you chose to use…so it must be a cover for the what your real intent was."

Wow. She was sharp, but Flynn wasn't about to just admit that she was right and completely throw himself under the bus. Time to play it up. He rolled his eyes and looked back to her serious features.

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm not lying. I was really just trying to steal your paintings, but you caught me. So now I'm confessing to my crime."

"You want to be known as a thief? What kind of person would want that?" The girl's expression seemed to soften slightly and she now began to look more curious than angry.

"I guess I would. That's just my way of life."

"Well that's stupid."

"Thanks, green eyes."

The girl gave Flynn another adorable scowl and then slid off his lap and sat in the grass next to him. Flynn sat up and looked over at her as he held her paintings out to her.

She seemed hesitant at first, but she finally took the paintings from him and placed them in her lap. Her fingers began to run down one of her pieces as if she were checking to make sure that nothing had happened to them during their collision.

"You know, I have to say you have some serious courage if you were willing to chase me down like that and tackle me to the ground. A normal girl would have just called the guards."

The girl shrugged and continued to focus on smoothing out her paintings. "I didn't see the point in making a scene. Plus you're guard looked like it was down and my chances of knocking you to the ground seemed promising."

Flynn laughed a shook his head. "You're a strange one….uh….what's your name?"

The girl looked up at him and lifted a brow once again. "Do you honestly think I would tell you my name after you just tried to take my paintings from me?"

Flynn groaned and tilted his head back a little. "Please, it was just a joke. I like to keep my hands busy sometimes and I probably would have tried to put your paintings back into your possession without you noticing before I ever actually went to go sell them around Corona. Lighten up."

The girl shot him an annoyed look, obviously trying as hard as she could to look intimidating.

Flynn sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you my name first. You've probably heard it before anyway." He gave her a smirk and held out his hand to her, "Flynn Rider. Nice to meet you." The girl looked from Flynn's face to his hand, but she didn't show any signs of actually shaking it.

Flynn continued to keep eye contact with her, wondering if she knew how cute she looked when she was attempting to be stubborn. Wait…cute…adorable? What was Flynn thinking? He needed to get those sorts of thoughts out of his head. She was incredibly beautiful and his plan was to still somehow woo her and get her to come back to his place. If not tonight, then hopefully sometime in the near future.

Just as Flynn let his hand begin to lower, he felt her soft skin touch his and felt a gentle pressure as her hand pressed into his.

"Rapunzel."

Flynn lifted his brow and let a grin spread across his face. "Rapunzel?"

He could see her cheeks grow a little red and her eyes widen as if she were embarrassed or slowly beginning to freak out. "Yeah…"

"That's an interesting name."

The girl seemed to relax a little and let go of his hand. "You mean, you haven't heard of me before?"

Flynn couldn't help but feel a little confused. Based on her tone, she made it sound like he should obviously know who she was or something of that sort.

"No, I can't say that I have. Should I have?"

Rapunzel quickly shook her head, "No I guess not. I just figured in a place like Corona, everyone seems to know everyone and….wait….you were the one I saw at the lake yesterday."

Flynn felt his heart begin to race slightly and resisted the urge to grimace, "Yeah…that was me."

"You saw me painting the water and the lily pads."

"Correct."

"Hmmm"

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." She dropped her head and started observing her paintings once again. Flynn couldn't help but stifle a laugh as he watched her. She lifted her head once again and looked at him curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just interesting."

"Interesting?"

"Well, what I mean is…you're not like a lot of the other women I've run into around here." He swept his hand out in front of him as he gestured to the kingdom.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I'm not sure."

Rapunzel got up from her spot on the ground and dusted off her dress a little. "Well, I surely hope not."

Flynn got up as well and smirked at her. "Oh, it shouldn't really matter what I think about you anyway. I'm just a thief who you tackled to the ground only five minutes ago."

Rapunzel look at him and nodded. "I didn't say that I cared what you thought about me, or at least that's not what I had in mind."

Flynn shrugged. He could feel his brow furrow slightly afterward as he stared off into the trees. How could she not care what he thought of her? Every girl did. They were constantly trying to impress him and better themselves in order to get with him. However, this girl didn't even care if he thought she was a lunatic at the point in time. She was strange, but a good strange. A strange that he couldn't help but be drawn to.

Rapunzel continued to look at Flynn and slid her bag over her shoulder. "Well thank you for giving me my paintings back and not running off with them even after I tackled you. I appreciate it."

Flynn brought his eyes back to stare into hers and gave her a smug smile, "You're welcome, Rapunzel." A chill practically went down his spine as he said her name. He finally knew her name! Plus, he had finally spoken to her….not exactly the way he had planned he would…but he still pulled it off. Flynn started to wonder if things had gone originally as he had planned if he would have been able to sleep with the girl tonight, but now all of his chances seemed to be lost. Rapunzel pressed her lips together and looked as if she were searching his eyes for something.

"Well, I'll see you around." She gave him a sweet smile and began to walk back toward the shops into the public eye.

"See ya." Flynn watched as she walked away, admiring how feisty yet innocent she seemed to be.

* * *

"So Rider, I noticed you don't seem to have any brunettes wearing lavender dresses hanging around you. Was she not interested?" Hookhand stood across the counter from Flynn wearing a giant smirk. It was obvious that he was getting a lot of enjoyment from the fact that Flynn hadn't managed to get the girl to fall under his charm.

"I'll have you know that I didn't even try to pursue her. I mean, I talked to her, but I didn't throw in my normal moves like I do with all the other ladies."

Hook laughed and shook his head. "You're getting mighty defensive. Don't worry man. There are plenty of other fish in the sea and at least you still have Clarissa."

Flynn groaned and looked down at the counter. "Please don't tell me that she's here."

"No, she's not. She came in looking for you earlier, but I told her that you were running some errands."

Flynn continued to look at the counter and nodded his head. "Thanks."

Hook lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "Don't mention it. Are you sure everything is okay? You've been acting really weird lately."

"I guess I'm just a little distraced." Flynn shrugged and brought his eyes up to meet Hook's.

"With?"

Flynn sat there for a moment and tried to sort out his thoughts, but they still didn't make much sense to even him. He had been looking for that girl, Rapunzel, and trying to talk to her the past couple of days and it was strange that he had gone out of his way so much to try to mingle with her. Normally women came to him, but now it was the other way around. He wasn't really sure what was going on and how he should feel about it, so it was probably best to push it all out of his mind completely. If she didn't see Flynn the same way those other girls did, then so be it. He wasn't going to waste his time trying to somehow persuade her to take some serious interest in him. That just seemed exhausting.

Flynn got up from his seat at the bar, "I think I'll head out early tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4: Light Hearted Chatting

Flynn's head was pounding as he opened his eyes. He slowly rolled over onto his back and brought his hands up to rub the sides of his head. What had happened last night? He hadn't stayed out that late had he? No. He had left the Snuggly Duckling early. Flynn looked around the room and was relieved to find that he was currently laying in his own bed, alone. He wasn't stuck at Clarissa's, or any other girl's place for that matter, and desperately trying to wedge her off of him in order to sneak out.

He sat up and pressed the palm off his hand to his forehead as it began to pound even more. He only had one drink last night, so why was his head hurting so bad? _Maybe it was from the whiplash I experienced when that girl jumped on my back._ Wait...the girl! He had talked to her! Plus, she wasn't "the girl" anymore, she was Rapunzel. Flynn smiled and shook his head a little as he remembered the two of them tumbling to the ground the day before. Even though their meeting was quite amusing, it didn't leave them on the best of terms. She didn't seem all that upset with him when they say goodbye yesterday, but they weren't exactly qualified as best friends at this point.

Shutting his eyes tightly, Flynn experienced another wave of pain coming from his head. Normally in this situation a little relaxation went a long way. As much as he wanted to lay back down and sleep the day away, he figured it would probably be better to fuel up.

Flynn got up and braced himself against his night stand. He groaned as the room began to spin a little, but still managed to remain standing. _Okay...clothes_. Once Flynn felt a little more stable he made his way around the room and slide on a few articles of clothing.

When he was dressed and fixed his hair a little, he made his way out of his place and headed toward the lake. The sun burned his eyes as he attempted to let them adjust to the bright glow, thinking of the Princess' painting he had seen on the building wall yesterday. He wasn't lying when he said it was breath taking.

Flynn reached the lake and made his way down the dock, taking his usual seat at the end so he could let his legs dangle. When he was all situated he felt his body begin to instantly relax and closed his eyes as he tilted his head back slightly. It felt so good to be in the sun and the open air, letting himself relax and attempt to quiet his thoughts. He certainly had a lot to deal with in the next couple of days, or whenever he planned to finally break off his "relationship" with Clarissa.

* * *

Flynn swung his legs back and forth as he stared out at the water.. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, but he imagined it had been almost an hour. He had been completely lost in thought and it wasn't due to the usual things that bounced around in his head. Instead of forming some sort of plan to get rid of Clarissa, he was thinking about Rapunzel. At least he knew her name now, but that didn't make up for the fact that she most likely hated him at the moment. Not that he was feeling any remorse, that sort of thing was unheard of to someone like Flynn Rider. He just knew he had lost any chance he possibly had to lure this beautiful girl back to his apartment, which definitely wasn't something he was exactly happy about.

"Flynn?"

Flynn was suddenly shaken from his thoughts and felt his back tighten slightly as he heard his name. At first he thought it could be Clarissa or another one of the girls he had slept with, but due to how sweet and innocent this girl's voice sounded he could tell it wasn't.

He slowly turned around to find Rapunzel staring down at him, gripping the strap of her bag with one hand and protecting her eyes from the sun with the other.

A sense of shock swarmed over him. He wasn't exactly sure why this girl would possibly want to come and confront the very man who tried to steal her paintings, but then again she had already proven to be unpredictable.

"Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel gave him a sweet smile and seemed to sway a little as if she were suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. It was funny to him how she could be confident yet self conscious at the same time.

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding. I was just walking by and when I looked out at the lake, I saw you sitting here. I don't know why, but I felt the need to say hi and well...here I am." Rapunzel brought the hand that was shading her eyes down and gestured out in front of her.

Flynn let out a small laugh. "I see. You're not intruding." He looked out at the water and then back at her. "You can take a seat if you want to." He patted the spot next to him, feeling himself grow slightly hopeful that she would accept his offer.

Rapunzel continued to smile and nodded, "Sure, why not."

She sat down next to him with her bag sitting in between them. Flynn found this a little funny due to the fact that he had just ran off with her paintings the day before, yet she was trusting him now to be so close to her personal belongings. It said something about her.

They sat there in silence for a couple of moments, both staring straight out at the water. The silence was somehow comfortable and calming. He was almost enjoying it and was glad that she wasn't talking his ear off about meaningless things like Clarissa usually did. However, he felt the urge to break their silence due to the fact that this may be the only chance he may ever get to actually make conversation with her.

Flynn cleared his throat and turned his head in her direction, "So are you new around her or what? I haven't really seen you around that much."

Rapunzel shrugged and looked over at him, "Kind of. I've always lived around here, but I just recently moved closer to the actual kingdom and everything. I try to keep to myself most of the time."

Flynn nodded and looked out at the lake again. They were kind of alike in the way that they both didn't really care to be acquainted with other people, but that was because he was a bit of an asshole while she seemed so friendly and genuine. Maybe she had her reasons though.

Their silence stretched on as they continued to focus their attention on the water. Flynn felt some sort of electricity running through him. He wasn't sure why Rapunzel was currently sitting next to him. Shouldn't she be trying to avoid him at any cost or insulting him somehow? Maybe she was just being nice to him so he would warm up to her and then she would push him into the water or something. Flynn looked over at her once again. She didn't seem to notice him staring as her eyes continued to search the trees across the lake. She really was beautiful. Cute nose, big green eyes, beautiful lips, and her hair was a whole other story. It always seemed to lay on her shoulders and down her back perfectly. Flynn had to admit, it was as if she was a goddess. Now that he was actually able to study her closely he could officially say that she was the most breath taking woman he had ever seen.

"What are you staring at?" Rapunzel looked over at him and he was relieved to see that she gave him a sweet smile instead of a cold stare. Why was she being so nice to him?

"Uh, well you." Obviously Flynn.

Rapunzel laughed and Flynn felt a cocky smile take over his expression. Maybe he could have this girl eating out of the palm of his hand somehow. Could he blame her? He was known as the best looking guy in the kingdom and most of the women around are convinced he's quite the gentleman as well. The thoughts that kept flashing through his mind that involved Rapunzel probably wouldn't be classified as respectful though. How much he wanted to slip her out of that lavender dress and make her laugh in other ways.

"So, that girl you were with the other night...is she your...girlfriend?"

Flynn felt his brow furrow as he was shaken from his thoughts. He resisted the urge to grimace at the word girlfriend and gave her a puzzled look.

"What girl?"

Rapunzel looked down for a moment and then brought her full green eyes back up to meet his. Flynn felt his stomach tighten slightly.

"The other night. I was walking by the lake and I saw you with some woman. You two looked awfully cozy."

Rapunzel broke their eye contact and looked out at the ducks that were now swimming not too far from where they were currently perched.

Flynn tried to study her expression, but her face wasn't giving him any sort of clue as to what she was currently thinking. Based on how she talked about the woman, who he realized was Clarissa, she didn't seem to be jealous or bitter. She just seemed genuinely curious, but it still seemed puzzling to him. It didn't seem like she was asking because she was hoping to pursue him somehow and found Clarissa as some sort of threat.

Flynn brought up his hand and rubbed his chin a little. His gote tickling against his fingers.

"I didn't think you even noticed us the other night. You seemed to be in some sort of hurry."

Rapunzel shrugged and Flynn noticed a smile begin to make its way onto her lips.

"I notice a lot of things, Flynn. A good artist pays attention to detail."

Of course. He had seen her paintings and based on how real they looked, he could tell that she definitely knew a thing or two about detail.

"So do you have a photographic memory or something?" Flynn leaned back on his hands and shot her another cocky smile.

"Something like that." Rapunzel continued to look forward, but he could see a smile still sitting upon her lips.

Flynn licked his bottom lip and looked out at the ducks as well. Watching as one tried to nip the back feathers of another duck as they quacked at each other in disapproval.

"Oh, and to answer your question, no...she's not my girlfriend." Flynn kept his eyes locked on the ducks, but imagined Rapunzel lighting up with his claim. Although Clarissa and him had been intimate the past couple of weeks, they weren't technically a couple. Not according to his terms anyway.

The two grew silent again and Flynn let himself lay back on the deck and shut his eyes. He was hoping she wouldn't take it as him trying to tell her to go away. He actually didn't mind sitting with her, but that was mainly because he was trying to get her to like him. That would help his chances of getting her in bed or possibly just a trip to the Snuggly Duckling so he could shove it in Hook's face.

"You come here often."

It wasn't a question and Flynn could hear the confidence behind Rapunzel's words.

"Yup."

"Why?"

Flynn opened his eyes and leaned up on his elbows a little. He let his eyes adjust as he looked over at her, noticing that she still continued to look straight ahead.

No one had ever asked him that before. Actually, no one had really ever noticed that he visited the lake so often. He had brought girls here all the time after they left the Snuggly Duckling, but it was mainly part of his plan to make them gaze out at the water while he whispered romantic things in their ear. They were like putty in his hand after that.

Flynn hadn't really opened up with anyone about these sort of things. Was he willing to do it now? He searched Rapunzel's face and watched as she turned and looked into his eyes. She definitely seemed like the curious type. That could be a good and bad thing.

"Well...I..." Flynn shrugged and then let out a little sigh. "I don't know. I guess it's just relaxing. Sometimes I just end up here and I didn't even realize that I was headed here. It calms me down and let's me sort out my thoughts...to an extent."

Flynn wanted to shake his head at his own words. They sounded wrong and way too personal. He felt the need to change the subject as soon as possible. He furrowed his brow and looked down at the dock. Trying to figure out some way to steer the conversation in another direction.

"That makes sense." Rapunzel smiled at him and nodded slightly. Based on her tone, Flynn could tell that she wasn't going to press the matter any further and brought his eyes up to meet hers. He smirked at her and saw her smile widen a little more.

Oh, how badly he wanted to kiss those lips. How much would he have to persuade her to come back to his apartment right now? She already seemed to be warming up to him and he was willing to take advantage of that.

Now that they were talking so light heartedly did he break down any barriers between them? Usually women were dying to be touched by him. Was Rapunzel any different?

Flynn decided to test the waters and raised his right hand up to Rapunzel, slipping a piece of her hair in between his fingers and gave her a sexy smile.

"You have very beautiful hair." Flynn continued to slide his finger down her hair and make her over to her shoulder, but stopped to examine her expression.

Rapunzel continued to look calm and collected as she watched his face, but he could see that her cheeks were now slightly pink. What a confusing combination. He was about to continue his journey down her hair when she suddenly brought her hands up to collect her hair and moved it over to her other shoulder.

Flynn blinked a couple of times and felt a little dumb founded as he continued to hold his hand in the air. His fingers were in the same position as if he were still holding onto her hair. Had she really just pulled her hair away from him? Did she not want him to touch her?

"Sorry. I just have a thing about people touching my hair." Rapunzel's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink and she looked down at her hands.

"Don't apologize. I didn't meant to embarrass you." Flynn retracted his hand and leaned back once again. He wasn't used to this kind of reaction from women, but he felt like the best course of action was to reassure her. Surely she would be more thankful and he could still try to convince her to let him do other things to her.

"Well, I should probably go." Rapunzel bounced up and slid her bag on her shoulder before Flynn could even realize what was happening.

He blinked up at her and then nodded.

"Yeah, I should head out as well." Flynn got up from the dock in a graceful motion and stood next to Rapunzel, giving her a charming smile.

She gave him a shy smile in return and Flynn couldn't help but feel a little smug.

"After you." He gestured in front of him and smiled. The whole gentleman approach was probably the best in this sort of situation and he was willingly to play it up if that meant winning her over. Rapunzel gave him and thankful nod and made her way up the dock, Flynn trailing not far behind her. He began to let his eyes wander from the back of her head all the way down her body, smiling at her slender body that still possessed perfect curves. When he reached her feet he lifted an eyebrow in confusion. Where were her shoes?

Once they reached the stone path, they turned to face each other and Flynn noticed that Rapunzel still had the same shy smile on her face despite her disapproval of him touching her hair only a few moments ago. She was certainly forgiving and...sweet. The way she looked at him and treated him felt like she was somehow seeing something else other than what Flynn was showing.

She reached out her hand, a confident smile now taking over her lips. "Well Flynn Rider, it was a pleasure to see you again."

Flynn let out a small laugh and took her hand shaking it slowly, "The pleasure is all mine."

Rapunzel continued to smile and pulled her hand out of his. "Enjoy the rest of your day."

With that she turned around and made her way down the stone walkway, not looking back at him once and maintaining a comfortable stride.

Flynn smiled as he watched her go and began to shake his head. He slowly turned around and made his way to an unknown destination, debating if he should just go back and sit down at the dock again. Although Rapunzel's facial expressions and attitude toward him seemed so confusing, Flynn was sure of one thing; he needed to get that girl in bed.


	5. Chapter 5: Every Last Inch

"Today's the day, Hook. I'm finally going to break it off with Clarissa." Flynn crossed his arms and leaned against the bar counter, his smile obviously full of pride and cockiness.

Hook looked up from the rag he was currently dragging across the counter and just shook his head at Flynn.

"You've really convinced yourself that you're going to do it, haven't you?"

Flynn laughed and jumped up so that he was now sitting on the counter.

"Come on, Hook. I actually mean it. I figured it's about time to let the girl go. Better to do it now before she gets too clingy and starts calling herself Mrs. Flynn Rider. I'm not going through that again." Flynn shuddered a little as he thought about a past experience with a blonde named Carlotta. There was no way he was going to get himself stuck in that situation again.

"Besides," Flynn flashed Hook a cocky smile, "I already have another girl to take her place." He couldn't help but feel a little smug as he thought about Rapunzel and the time they had spent together the day before. Sure, she had resisted his touch, but the way she blushed and smiled were definitely signs that she had taken a special interest in him as well, right? The only way to find out was to test the waters some more and that's exactly what Flynn planned to do.

"Are you referring to that girl in the lavender dress that you were talking about the other day?" Hook stopped wiping the counter in order to organize a few of the mugs under the counter.

"Why, yes I am. Why do you ask?" Flynn couldn't help but notice a certain disapproval to Hook's tone and lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

Hook shook his head slowly and kept his eyes locked on his work. "I just think it's a bad idea for you to get yourself involved with her. I mean, do you understand what you're getting yourself into?"

Flynn furrowed his brow and stared at Hook, unsure what he was exactly getting at. For some reason Hook seemed to be trying to look out for Rapunzel and he wasn't sure why he was trying to persuade Flynn to stay away from her. Why was she any different from any of the other girls Flynn had been involved with? Sure she was more innocent, sweet, less experienced, and seemed to be a few years younger than those other girls, but Hook still didn't know her well enough to want to protect like he was.

"Look, whatever happens between Rapunzel and me, whether it's good or bad, I will take full responsibility for it. I've been looking out for myself for my entire life and I think I can handle a little fun with a girl. Honestly, what's the worst that could happen? I've basically seen it all, Hook." Flynn gave him a smug smile, but still Hook seemed to be unamused. He appeared to be a little too serious about this whole thing and Flynn just didn't understand why he was lecturing him so much.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a certain beautiful, green eyed brunette to go find. Don't wait up." Flynn hopped off the counter and gave Hook a half smile. Hook gave him a quick nod in return and then continued with his work. With a final roll of his eyes, Flynn gave the counter a pat and then made his way out of the pub.

Flynn leaned against the building wall across from where the art classes were held. Classes were expected to get out at ten and he was hoping that Rapunzel would be one of the students shuffling out of the building.

His plan was simple. If he did catch Rapunzel coming out then he was going to ask her if she wanted to spend the day together. She seemed to enjoy their conversation the day before and she seemed to be the kind of girl who needed a little more persuading and time before she just jumped into bed with a guy.

* * *

The clock above Flynn's head started to chime, indicating that it was now ten and he watched the door closely. All sorts of people began to make their way out of the door and walk in different directions. He studied each of them, but he still didn't see Rapunzel anywhere. Didn't she take a lot of art classes? The only thing that he seemed to really know about her is that she loves art and takes it quite seriously. Flynn continued to look out for Rapunzel, but was disappointed when he saw the last three people walk out of the building, Rapunzel no where in sight. What was he supposed to do now? He had planned to spend the day with her, but now he could tell that that was probably not going to happen.

Flynn turned to leave when all of sudden he saw one final person bouncing out of the building from the corner of his eye. Based on the body language alone, he could tell that it was Rapunzel. He turned to get a better look and could feel himself inhale sharply as he saw her continue walking with a beautiful smile across her face.

He watched her for a few more moments before he started to make his way toward her, trying to keep himself calm and collected.

"Rapunzel," Flynn gave her a small wave and a charming smile as he got close. She turned her head and slowed down, her smile fading and then returning even bigger as she realized it was him. She came to a complete stop and waved back at him.

"Hey, Flynn. What's up?" She seemed to be in a great mood, which was definitely a good sign. Flynn was hoping that she wasn't on her way to do anything else and that she would accept his offer to hang out. Who knows? She could still be mad at him for taking her paintings and she's just been faking all of her kindness.

"Nothing much. I was just walking around and I saw you coming out of the art building. I was just going to ask if you maybe wanted to hang out for a little while or something? I mean, if you're not busy or anything." Flynn flashed her his pearly whites and watched as her expression changed. Her smile had disappeared, but she still looked at ease and kind. Her eyes were searching his as if she were trying to figure out his reasoning for asking her to spend time with him.

Finally she gave him a small shrug and her smile returned, "Sure, why not? I don't really have any other plans today. What did you have in mind?" She continued to smile at him and he nodded.

"Great. I figured we could just improvise. Sound like fun?" Flynn tilted his head to the side a little and gave her an amusing smile. He wasn't really used to spending the day with someone or planning these sort of things, but he was really trying. He just wanted her to be comfortable, because it was obvious she wasn't going to melt as easy as Clarissa, Carlotta, or any other girl for that matter. Flynn couldn't tell if he liked or disliked that fact, but he was still going to do whatever it took to get Rapunzel to let him make his way with her.

"Improvise, huh?" Rapunzel gave him a mocking smile and then looked around at all the people passing by. "I suppose that could be fun." She practically whispered the last of her sentence and Flynn felt a weight lift off his shoulders. She wanted to spend time with him and was up for anything. Hmmm...anything?

Flynn shook his head and kept smiling as he moved over so he was standing right in front of her. "I'm glad you approve. Shall we get this show on the road?"

Rapunzel stared up at him and gave him a shy nod.

"Well then, after you, miss." Flynn gestured to the left of him and smirked at Rapunzel, waiting to see how she reacted.

Suddenly, Rapunzel looked as if she had gained some confidence and headed off in the direction Flynn had pointed.

_Well this should be interesting._

* * *

"Brock's Bakery," there was a certain ring to Rapunzel's voice and she read the words above the shop. She sounded almost content, yet curious as if it were humorous that he had chosen to bring her here, yet she was a little unsure of why he had chosen this place from everywhere else in Corona.

"Brock's a close friend of mine," Flynn shrugged and let out a sly smile as he opened the door to the bakery and gestured for her to walk through the door.

Rapunzel returned his smile and gave him a polite nod, "Thank you." She walked passed him into the bakery and immediately looked around. A smile was engraved on her face as she studied the paintings on the walls of random bread assortments and a portrait of some of Brock's family who had owned the bakery before him.

Flynn didn't even realize that it had just been the two of them standing there until Brock popped up from behind the counter with a pan of fresh bread in his hands.

"Oh, well hello there!" Brock sounded a little overly friendly, but Flynn was sure that was because he hadn't realized that Flynn was the one who had come in, not just any other customer.

Rapunzel turned from the paintings on the wall to shoot Brock a friendly smile, "Hello." Her voice sounded like pure music. Flynn could tell that she was being completely genuine and this encounter wasn't forced for her. It was sort of a relief to be out with such a nice and innocent girl for a change. Normally the girls Flynn met at the Snuggly Duckling had a little bit of an attitude, but Flynn was sure that Rapunzel probably wasn't capable of being even remotely snarky.

Some of the color seemed to drain from Brock's face as Rapunzel turned around. He blinked a couple of times as if he were in shock and tore his eyes away from her in order to glance over at Flynn.

"Flynn?"

"Hey Brock buddy. I thought I would just stop in and show Rapunzel here how great your bread is." Flynn made his way over to Brock and was glad to see that Rapunzel walked closer as well.

"Brock, this is Rapunzel. Rapunzel, Brock." He smiled at both of them and couldn't help but feel a wave of pride flush over him. He had managed to bring Rapunzel to the bakery and shove it in Brock's face. Everyone was warning him to stay away from her, but he had her completely under his spell now, or at least he thought so.

"Nice to meet you, Brock." Rapunzel held out her hand and gave him a warm smile.

Brock continued to blink a couple of more times and glanced over at Flynn once more before he took Rapunzel's hand and gently shook it. "Nice to meet you as well." Brock finally let a smile spread across his face and let out a small life as if he were enjoying a private joke. Rapunzel's cheeks turned a little pink as she slowly slide her hand away from his, but she still looked like she was completely as ease somehow.

"Brock and I go way back." Flynn leaned against the counter and smirked at Rapunzel. His pride was practically falling on the floor and he wasn't even going to clean it up. He wanted Brock to see just how smug he was. Maybe it would make him shut up and stop him from trying to keep Flynn away from her.

Brock broke his disbelieving gaze away from Rapunzel and looked over to Flynn once again. His eyes slowly narrowing as he noticed Flynn's expression and let a few moments of silence stretch out between them.

Finally, he cleared his throat and smiled slightly, "That we do." He turned back to face Rapunzel and let out a small laugh, "This boy here can be a little dangerous. You better be careful."

"I'm sure I can manage," Rapunzel said sweetly and confidently which caused Brock to erupt in laughter.

"For some reason, I don't doubt that, pr...Rapunzel."

Flynn furrowed his brow and watched as Brock's eyes grew a little wide and he looked embarrassed. He looked from Brock over the Rapunzel and was confused to see that her expression mirrored Brock's except her cheeks were also flushed.

Brock shook his head suddenly and laughed once again. "Well, would you two like some bread? It's on the house." He turned around and grabbed a loaf that looked fresh and was sitting on the cutting board. He slipped it into a bag and handed it to Rapunzel.

"Thank you," she seemed to have relaxed from whatever had just happened only a couple of moments ago. What had happened? Why did they both look like they had seen some sort of ghost or as if Brock had offended her? What had he said?

Flynn tried to replay the conversation over in his head, but didn't find anything offensive in what Brock had said and couldn't remember anything happening either. So what was up?

Rapunzel brought the bag up to her nose and smiled, "It smells delicious." She looked back up to Brock and gave him a look of approval.

"Well, it should. I've been in the baking business ever since I was a young boy so I know quite a bit about bread and what seems to work." Now it was Brock's turn to gloat with pride. He loved his family business and it was definitely wasn't something his father had to force him into. He had accepted to take over the business with out a single second of hesitation.

Rapunzel reached into the bag and tore off a small piece of bread, popping it in her mouth and chewing slowly. Her eyes suddenly widening as a smile grew wide across her expression.

"This is amazing! By far the best bread I've ever had!"

Flynn couldn't help but laugh as he saw Rapunzel light up from the bread and Brock light up from her kind words.

"Thank you, young lady. Your approval means a lot to me."

Rapunzel continued to smile widely as she looked down in the bag so she could tear off another piece.

"Well, we better get going. We've got a lot to do today," Flynn leaned over slightly and patted Brock's shoulder twice and shot him a smug smile as if to say, "In your face."

"It was lovely to have met you," Rapunzel smiled and nodded to Brock as she followed Flynn toward the door.

"You too, Rapunzel. Feel free to drop in anytime," Brock smiled and watched them exit.

Flynn turned to look at Brock one last time as he held the door open for Rapunzel to walk through and watched as Brock only glared at him, shaking his head in disapproval. He gave Brock a thumbs up and slipped away from the door, walking with Rapunzel in a random direction.

Rapunzel turned toward Flynn, clutching the bag of bread happily in her hands, "So, I heard that we have a lot to do today. What exactly is it that we have to do?"

Flynn smiled and shook his head, "Well...I didn't really have anything planned actually," he looked off into the distance at some of the other buildings not far from them and shrugged, "I I thought maybe we could just go with the flow. Maybe you could show me something that you like and I can show you something I like in return. You know, get to know one another." Flynn rolled his shoulders and smiled over at her once again. He hadn't ever done this before, but it seemed like fun. He wanted to know more about Rapunzel and this was the perfect way to do it. When it came to his turn to show her things he liked he could just make something up. There was no way she was getting any sort of insight into his life, he was just getting some into hers. He needed her to be vulnerable with him. Vulnerability was a good thing especially for what he had planned.

"That sounds like fun," Rapunzel smiled and moved the bread from her hands into her bag. "Where shall we start?"

"I figured that going to see Brock was my idea, so I guess it's your turn now." Flynn smirked and decided to try his luck once again. He reached over and ran his thumb over Rapunzel's cheekbone and slightly down the left side of her face. "That is, if you want to go next."

Rapunzel's expression was hard to read. She seemed to be in control of herself, but she also looked uneasy yet giddy all in one.

"Sure, I don't mind going next." Rapunzel turned away from Flynn's hand and glanced around them, looking as if she were trying to figure out where to go. Was she playing hard to get or what? He had done this to Clarissa for the first time only a few weeks ago and she practically leapt in his arms, her mouth on his and desire burning from her skin. Rapunzel definitely wasn't leaping.

Flynn started lowering his hand, but suddenly felt Rapunzel grab it and start dragging him to her right. "I know just where to go."

* * *

Flynn walked around the bookstore examining some of the book titles, but not really paying attention to what he was looking at. Bookstores weren't really his scene. Honestly, he couldn't even remember the last time he had been in the bookstore let alone if he had ever really been in one. Hadn't him and some black haired broad come in here before he met Clarissa so she could find some sort of book on sex and men's real desires in order to use some of the techniques in the book on Flynn? Of course at the time he was slightly interested until he realized that her book contained some seriously freaky shit.

Where was Rapunzel anyway? Flynn weaved his way around the small bookstore that contained way too many unnecessary shelves and searched for Rapunzel. He finally spotted her facing away from him, reaching up for a book on the second to top shelf. He figured he should try to help her, but he was a little curious to see what book it was that she had chosen to take down. He was crossing his fingers that it wasn't some ridiculous love story. Not only would it be predictable, but it would also be a warning sign for Flynn. She may be into reading about romance and yearning for her Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet and he didn't want her to start thinking he was going to be that guy. He didn't want her to make just a bit of fun into some once in a chance love.

Flynn continued to stare at Rapunzel as she finally slid the book off the shelf and opened it up in her hands. As she turned to her left a little Flynn could make out the title of her book, a sense of relief flooding over him. The word "Astrology" was written across the cover and based on Rapunzel's expression and body language, Flynn could tell that she was very interested in the material she was reading.

He continued to watch her as she smiled at the book and then looked up, searching the walls once again. She seemed to spot another book of her liking and reached up to slid it off the shelf, sitting down on the floor with both of her books in order to study them together. She opened up the second book and Flynn could see a map stretched across the page. At first he thought it was just a map of Corona, but slowly he realized that it was instead a map of the world. Each continent laid out and in the same place that they had always been. It all looked so normal and familiar to Flynn, but when he looked from the book to Rapunzel's expression, he could tell that it meant so much more to her. Wonder filled her eyes and a look of longing. What exactly was she longing for?

Flynn left his spot and made his way over to Rapunzel, sitting down next to her on the floor and watching her some more. Her eyes never left her book as he sat down and made himself comfortable. She was just letting her fingers glide across the page of the map, caressing it as if it were something to be cherished.

"What are you looking at?" Flynn's voice was unintentionally quiet as if he didn't want to startle her. She just seemed to be in some sort of element and he didn't want to ruin that. Seeing her like this was almost uplifting. To see someone so enthralled with something rather than sex and alcohol, but then again, Flynn couldn't make much sense out of it.

"A map. A world map," Rapunzel looked up and smiled over at him. "I come in here often and look at it. It's...refreshing in a way."

"Refreshing how?" The words left Flynn's mouth without him even realizing it and he was surprised that he was even curious about Rapunzel's thoughts and feelings at all. Shouldn't thoughts and feelings be avoided for what he had in mind?

"I don't know," she looked down at the book once again and her smiled faltered a little. "I guess it's refreshing to know that the world is still intact and I may have the chance to go somewhere else someday. To leave Corona and travel somewhere else and leave this life behind. You know? Make a new life somewhere else where no one knows me and I just have a clean slate. A life where no one has a preset idea of who I am or what I'm like. They don't have to hear some story about me from some girl about how I fell asleep in art class when I was ten and woke up with purple paint across the left side of my face. They don't get this idea that I'm some sort of dork and they should avoid me. Instead no one has any stories and we can now make new ones. A life where there are no limits and the world is holding adventures and journeys just for me to partake in." She pauses and then points to Australia. "I could live there and roam with kangaroos and koalas. Sure they have spiders, but what's that compared to the frightening fact of going somewhere completely out of your comfort zone and living a completely new life. It's scary yet thrilling at the same time."

Rapunzel became quiet and she looked down at the book, her smile completely gone. "Sorry. All of this probably just sounds like childish dreams and nonsense." She closed to book and started to stand up, but Flynn reached for her hand, keeping her level with him.

"It's not," Flynn could feel the sincerity behind his words. He didn't really know what had come over him, but he felt this need to reassure her and her dreams. She had just shared something so personal with him and instead of rolling his eyes and thinking it was all bullshit, he couldn't help but feel like he needed to give her some sort of hope. A hope that she obviously held herself, but wasn't receiving from anyone else. Did anyone else even know about her dreams? Did she try to tell her parents or was it just something she was too scared to share with them in the first place?

Flynn suddenly snapped back into reality and looked at Rapunzel to find her smiling at him.

"Thank you."

He suddenly felt like his actions were wrong. Why had he done that? It seemed too intimate, on an emotional level at least. He slowly let his hand slide from hers and nodded his head as he gave her a nonchalant, "You're welcome."

Rapunzel rose from her spot on the floor and moved to put the books she had pulled down back in their correct spot. Flynn couldn't help but watch her as she moved with elegance and grace, leaning up on her tippy toes as she struggled to put the astrology book all the way up on it's shelf once again.

That's when he noticed it again. Flynn was checking her out, looking down her body, when he realized that Rapunzel wasn't wearing any shoes. Had she not been wearing any shoes all day or did she just take them off when they had been sitting on the floor? Flynn looked at Rapunzel's bag next to him to see if her shoes were somewhere nearby as well, but sure enough, there were no shoes next to him. Rapunzel must have been barefoot all morning. She was also barefoot the other day when they were at the lake though...was she always -

"Ready to go?" Rapunzel leaned down and grabbed her bag off the floor, throwing the straps onto her shoulder.

Flynn got up from his spot on the floor and nodded. "Of course. Where to next?"

"Don't ask me, Flynn. It's your turn. Remember?" Rapunzel gave him a mocking smile and Flynn couldn't help but laugh in return.

"I guess you're right. I forgot I said we would take turns." Flynn was mentally kicking himself, wishing that he had just told her that she was in charge of the day and they would do whatever she wanted to do.

Flynn began to think. Imagining all the simple places they could go that really wouldn't mean anything to him but he would pretend they did. However, whenever he tried to come up with something, it just didn't seem to feel right.

Then suddenly, Flynn had a random thought. "I got it. We'll have to walk back toward your art school building though. Is that okay with you?" Did he really care?"

"Certainly. Let's go," Rapunzel smiled and began to bounce down the walkway in the direction they were headed. Flynn walked behind her slightly, laughing and shaking his head at just how amusing this girl could be.

"You've probably seen this hundreds of times, but it's something that I enjoy so I figured I could include it in my list of places to go."

Flynn and Rapunzel were currently standing in front of the wall where the giant yellow sun and purple vines were painted, still just as beautiful as it had been the first time he saw it. He was sure that it was sort of a cheesy idea and although he didn't care all that much what she thought, he also didn't want her to get turned off by his efforts and run for the hills. He just figured this was something they could enjoy together and maybe she would think he was interested in art more than he really was, winning him major points.

"It was painted by the princess of Corona. Did you know that?"

Flynn looked over at Rapunzel and watched as she just stared at the painting, slowly nodding her head.

"You okay?"

Rapunzel tore her eyes away from the painting and glanced over at Flynn.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just studying the lines."

Flynn nodded and looked back the painting as well, trying to study and make sense of the lines like she was. It all looked so perfect to him. Rapunzel was an artist and he wondered if she looked at the painting and only saw faults where he saw beauty.

He couldn't help but feel like bringing Rapunzel to admire this painting with him wasn't the best idea and he wished he had just taken her to the Snuggly Duckling and snuck her some beers in order to get her drunk and running for his bedroom.

"You're turn," he finally said as they stood there in silence, just staring at the purple and yellow mesh.

"I'd like to go to the lake. If that's okay."

Flynn looked over at Rapunzel as she stared up at the painting, her eyes shifting from one spot to the next as if she were searching for something specific.

"Of course. Let's go."

Flynn took Rapunzel's hand and led her away from the painting. He expected her to react shyly to his touch, but instead she just left her hand relaxed in his as if they had done this many times before. Flynn wasn't grabbing her hand forcefully like he would do to most other girls, but instead just holding it gently as if Rapunzel was fragile and could shatter in his hand, which would cause Flynn to completely lose his chance.

There was just something about Rapunzel that was so alluring. Not like Clarissa who had this high sex appeal and wore scandalous outfits, but the way her mind worked. Rapunzel definitely was the most attractive girl Flynn had ever seen, but now he was starting to like her for more than just that. He was starting to like her kind and genuine manner toward other people that just seemed to light everyone else up whenever they were around her, or the fact that she seemed to know exactly what to say and when to not say anything, or how she seemed to have a mind that was always eager to learn and was interested in more than just love and sex. She was like no one he had ever met and he was being drawn to her. Her brown, wavy hair. Her beautiful paintings. Her bright green eyes. Her perfect body. Her killer smile. Her want for adventure and a feeling of freedom. The fact that she didn't wear shoes. She was on a whole other level that Flynn couldn't even grasp.

Suddenly Flynn shook his head and tried to rid his thoughts. What was he doing? He shouldn't be having these thoughts. What did it matter what type of person Rapunzel was? All she was good for was a lay and then he would find another girl. Flynn didn't need anything in a relationship besides sex and he was sure about that. Rapunzel was just another girl and he was getting too caught up in something that he didn't believe in.

Rapunzel and Flynn walked in complete silence to the lake and continued their silence as they sat at the end of the dock and looked out at the water. It was later in the day than Flynn thought as the sun was already setting and kids were clearing out of the water in order to reach their worried mothers calling them in for dinner.

After a few minutes of silence, Rapunzel shifted slightly and turned her head toward Flynn. "Thank you for today. I really enjoyed it."

Flynn smiled and nodded, "It was my pleasure." It would be even more of a pleasure if he got lucky tonight. Maybe just some tongue action right here would fill some of his needs.

Rapunzel smiled and continued to stare at him, "Do you bring girls here often?"

Flynn felt a little taken back at her question and stopped his eyes from widening in surprise. Had she really just asked him that? Jeez. She sure didn't miss a beat.

"Not as often as you probably think. I have brought a few girls here before." Why had he just admitted that to her? Did he feel like he had to? She already knew that he brought Clarissa here that one night, so he couldn't lie and say that he'd never brought a girl here. He could have at least said Clarissa was the only once, but no, he told Rapunzel the truth instead.

"Your happy place," she said semi quietly.

"What?"

"Your happy place. You have to admit that being here at the lake makes you happy. You were basically saying that the other day. Seeing you here, you can just tell that it puts you at ease somehow. It's your happy place."

Flynn thought about what Rapunzel was saying for a second and shrugged, "I guess you're right. It is sort of my happy place." That felt so wrong to say. It sounded childish and silly. He didn't want to admit anything like this. He wanted to seem strong and not in need of some sort of outside force controlling his happiness so much.

"It's really not that big of a deal though. I only come here occasionally. You just seem to catch me here a lot recently, but I really don't come that much." Hold onto your power.

Rapunzel laughed and shook her head, but didn't say anything.

"What about you? What's your happy place?" Flynn asked and instantly wanted to put his hands over his mouth. Had he really just asked? Why?

Rapunzel looked straight out at the water and seemed to take in his question for a second. The thought of her wanting to explore the world popped into his head once again and Flynn realized that maybe she couldn't even answer his question. Maybe she hadn't declared anything as her happy place because she wanted to see the world and decide after she had seen all that she needed to see.

"The meadow," she said and brought Flynn back to the now. "If you go through the trees by the art classrooms opposite of the way into the heart of the kingdom, then you run into that meadow. I recently found it and I go paint and read there all the time. It's beautiful and peaceful. It feels like no one can touch me."

Flynn let a small smile make it's way onto his lips. _No one can touch me. _Seems like the perfect happy place.

"So, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you, but I'm not sure if I should."

Flynn lifted a brow and stared at Rapunzel as she looked straight forward, looking as if she were in some sort of deep thought.

"Oh, really? Well now you've made me curious."

Rapunzel looked over at Flynn and gave him a half smile. "I just don't want you to get mad."

"Mad?" Flynn furrowed his brow, "I don't think you have to worry about that. Just throw it out there."

Rapunzel looked down for a moment and then looked back up into Flynn's eyes, "Well, I can't help but think about the series of events that have occurred since you tried to swipe my paintings that day and it all doesn't seem to make much sense to me. How we went from you stealing something of mine to all of a sudden spending all day together. It's a bit confusing. I just wanted to know, why? What's the real reason you took my paintings that day and why are we sitting here now?"

Rapunzel continued to keep strong eye contact with him and really looked like she was interested in his reasoning. Hell, he probably would be interested as well, but he wasn't sure he was up to giving her all that information. She was right, Flynn felt a little mad. Not at her question or the fact that she asked it, but the fact that it required a lot of personal information and reasoning that he wasn't willing to give. He knew this would disappoint her and maybe ruin his chances.

It was time to beat around the bush.

Flynn shrugged and broke their eye contact. "I already gave you my reasons, Rapunzel. I honestly don't see why you keep thinking I took your paintings for any other reason than the one I gave you."

Flynn realized that his words sounded a little harsh and he knew that Rapunzel would most likely feel uncomfortable and maybe just leave. He almost felt bad, which was something Flynn Rider never felt. Remorse wasn't really his thing, but right now he felt this urge to apologize for his words.

He turned to look at her once again and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could manage any words, she cut him off.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I just over analyze these things." She was still looking at him and shot him a weak smile. At first, Flynn thought she was just being nice and trying to brush off a potential awkward moment, but it was clear just by looking at her that she was being quite understanding.

Flynn nudged his shoulder into hers and smiled back, "Hey, don't worry about it. I know that you were just curious." That was one of the things he liked about her. She was always hungry for new information and she was definitely observant. There was more to Flynn's reasoning than what he was providing her, and she obviously had picked that up, but he wasn't going to just come out and admit his true intentions. Wait...did he classify her curiosity as something that he _liked_ about her? No, that was wrong. Flynn didn't _like_ certain personality traits about girls he was involved with, only physical characteristics.

Flynn cleared his throat, "So, do you always run around barefoot or what?" He looked down at her feet and gave her a smug smile.

Rapunzel looked down at her feet as well and smiled. Flynn felt a little relieved to see her smile because he had assumed that his question was going to make her uncomfortable or embarrassed.

"I always run around barefoot. My parents hate it, but I was always barefoot while I was growing up so it just feels natural to just not wear shoes now." Rapunzel moved her toes slightly and continued smiling.

"Where exactly did you grow up?"

Rapunzel's smile suddenly faded and she looked up from her feet. Based on her expression she didn't seem very jazzed that he had decided to ask her this question. This made Flynn feel a little uneasy. Maybe Rapunzel had almost just as many walls up as he did. She had already provided him with quite a bit of information about herself, but it was obvious that he had walked into a foreign territory that she didn't even like to think about herself.

"Forget I asked," Flynn waved his hand in the air as if to swat away his question. After all, it was a normal follow up question and he didn't mean to freak her out. For normal people these sort of questions and conversation were probably simple and easy, but not for Rapunzel and Flynn. They both seemed to have something to hide.

"No, it's all right. It's just not something I like to talk about." Her smile returned and she was obviously not terribly phased by his question.

"I know what you mean."

"You of all people should."

Flynn raised his brow in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well isn't it obvious?" Rapunzel shrugged. "You don't like to talk about yourself either and you seem to keep anything personal about yourself under lock and key. Don't get me wrong, I like what I've picked up about you so far, but I know there's a lot more to Flynn Rider than you're letting off."

Why did she always have to be so observant? It was killing him, yet luring him in at the same time.

Flynn couldn't help but feel like Rapunzel seemed to know more about him than he even knew about himself. She seemed to be saying that he was hiding behind some sort of identity that wasn't really the true him...which wasn't completely untrue. Flynn Rider wasn't even his real name.

"Isn't there always more to someone than they are letting off?"

Rapunzel nodded and looked as if she understood what he was getting at. "True, but believe or not, there are people out there who let someone know them completely. Ever last inch of them."

What was she saying? That she wanted them to know every inch of each other? Surely she wasn't. She was probably just making some sort of point. Would Flynn ever let someone else completely in? To let someone else know everything about him?

They both grew quiet and looked out at the water, looking as if they both were in deep thought.

After a couple of minutes, Rapunzel reached over and put her hand over Flynn's and smiled at him, "I should go."

"What? Now?"

"Yeah, I have to be back to the cas- my house before seven or else my parents will kill me. I have somethings to attend to."

Something to attend to? That sounded mighty proper.

Flynn didn't want to admit it, but he really didn't want her to leave. He almost wanted to offer that he just go with her, but that meant he would meet her parents and this would get a little too serious.

Instead, Flynn stood up and pulled Rapunzel up by the hand that she had just placed over his. They made their up the dock and back to the stone path in silence before they faced each other. Rapunzel just stared at Flynn. She looked confident, yet unsure of what exactly she was supposed to do now.

Flynn knew that this was the moment he should just lean over and kiss her. Overpower her and convince her that she had things to attend to in his bedroom instead. However, Flynn just held out his hand and gave her a cocky smile.

"Until next time, Rapunzel."

He expected her to look disappointed and hurt, but instead she smiled in amusement and took his hand in hers.

"Until then." She shook his hand and right before they slid their hands away, Flynn rubbed his thumb over her hand as if to communicate that he was definitely interested in her, hoping that she would pick up this hint and maybe make some sort of move.

She didn't. Instead she smiled, gave him a polite nod, and turned around. She left Flynn standing, just watching her, as she walked down the stone path and didn't turn back once.

What was this girl's game? Either she had no idea what she was doing or she was a genius. Either way it was seriously driving Flynn insane. He felt this deep desire growing in his stomach and a strange need to just chase after her. He never felt like chasing after anyone. What was going on? He had spent a good deal of his time looking for this girl, then spent the whole entire day with her, he even asked her personal questions and actually listened to her answers, and now he wanted to chase after her in order to spend even more time with her. Was he desperate for sex or was it something else?

Flynn shook his head and laughed a little. It was obviously for sex, right? There was no way that there was something else going on here.

Flynn headed in the opposite direction Rapunzel had gone and tried to quiet his thoughts as he headed for the Snuggly Duckling. He was in need of a beer to calm his mind and take this all away for a little while. As he walked he felt his mind erupting more and more though. He couldn't stop thinking about Rapunzel and the way her fingers danced across the page of her book and the way she spoke of visiting Australia, or the way she lit up when she tasted Brock's bread.

Flynn stopped for a second and brought his hands up to the sides of his head, gripping his hair a little.

"Fuck!" What was going on with him? Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? Most of all, why didn't he kiss her back there? Why wasn't she currently screaming in his bedroom? What was he doing? Why was he hesitating? This wasn't the Flynn he knew.


	6. Chapter 6: A Few Steps Back

Flynn walked through the door of the Snuggly Duckling and made his way immediately to the bar. Hook was currently standing behind the counter, chatting with one of the usuals about some sort of ceremony that was going to be held in the kingdom next month.

Flynn leaned against the counter and nodded toward Hook when he glanced over to him.

"Rider! How are you...you look a little worn down..."

Flynn felt a little worn down. He had just felt like he was on top of the world when he was with Rapunzel, but after they had said their goodbyes and from the time that it took for him to walk from the lake to the pub, it felt like he had lost all of his energy, It was like someone had just sucked it out of him. He knew he partially felt this way because of Rapunzel and how mixed up he felt about her, but he didn't want to admit that to anyone, not even himself.

"I'm fine, Hook."

"I hope this isn't because you broke it off with Clarissa."

Fuck! Flynn had completely forgotten that he had told Hook that he planned to finally cut his ties with Clarissa today and now he would have to admit that he hadn't done so. He knew Hook would laugh and act all smug, which definitely annoyed him.

Flynn sighed, "I haven't talked to Clarissa yet Hook. I was busy with Rapunzel all day." He took a seat in the bar stool next to him, seating himself right next to the guy Hook had just been talking to.

"Rapunzel?" The man asked, "As in the-"

"Gunter. Would you like another beer, man?" Hook interrupted him.

"No, I'm fine. I probably should go. My wife doesn't want me to stay out too late and I'm not in the mood to deal with her scolding me tonight. See you later guys." Gunter paid for his drink and then slid off of his stool, making his way toward the door.

"So," Hook finally said when they were completely alone. "How did things go with Rapunzel?"

Flynn shrugged, "Great. Everything was close to perfect."

"Then what's this all about?" Hook gestured to Flynn and he knew Hook was referring to his current solemn state.

"I don't know, Hook." Flynn brought up and hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed by the fact that he couldn't even sort out his feelings.

"Let me guess," Hook rubbed his chin a couple of times. "You wanted to get close to this girl, sleep with her, and then split. However, you've been hanging out and now you see that she's not that kind of girl and it's freaking you out so you feel the need to split early in order to avoid anymore damage."

"What?" Flynn looked up at Hook, lifting a brow.

"You want to split now because her personality just isn't what you thought and she's not what you bargained for. She's too perfect or something freaks you out because it's not what you're used to, so you want to dip out before things progress further and you actually get to the physical part of your relationship."

Flynn shook his head, "That's not it at all." He was about to explain further, but he realized he didn't know what to say. "Hook, just give me a beer."

* * *

Many beers later, and a few shots, Flynn was completely out of whatever funk he had been in a few hours earlier and was now laughing loudly with Hook. Needless to say, Flynn was drunk and his sense of judgment had left him two beers ago.

"Then she yelled, 'Oh! A giraffe!'"

Flynn nearly spit out his beer as he began laughing once again. Hook chuckled along with him, shaking his head at how messed up Flynn had become.

"A giraffe!" Flynn continued to laugh and set down his empty mug on the counter, gesturing for Hook to fill it up once again.

"Oh no, buddy. I think you've had enough."

Flynn nodded as he laughed lightly, "You're right. I should probably get out of here."

Right as Flynn was about to turn around in his seat he heard his name called behind him.

He looked at Hook, "Who is that?"

Hook frowned and then mouthed the name Clarissa, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Who?" Flynn asked, but then felt someone's hand on his shoulder making him turn in his seat. He stared up at Clarissa and noticed a sexiness to her smile.

Flynn gave her a goofy smile, "You're not Rapunzel." _Rapunzel?_

"Who?" Clarissa furrowed her brow and looked pissed.

"I'm just kidding, baby." He said as he stood and staggered a little bit. He looked back to the bar and noticed that Hook was nowhere to be found.

When he looked back to Clarissa she seemed as though she were suddenly extremely giddy.

"Why haven't I heard from you lately?"

Flynn laughed again and placed his hand on her cheek, "Shhh. Don't be so serious."

Clarissa looked back in his eyes and looked as if she were about to cry, yet she was on top of the world.

Flynn's smile didn't fad as he rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone, imagining green eyes staring back at him instead.

"Come home with me."

"Flynn, are you serious?"

Flynn slid his hand away from her face and took her hand instead. "Of course, baby." He leaned a little closer so their lips were almost touching. "Let's go have some fun."

* * *

"Flynn!"

Flynn turned around to see Rapunzel walking down the dock to him, a giant grin spread across her face. He returned her smile and gave her a small nod. A wave of complete happiness suddenly spread throughout him and he felt the need to jump up from his spot on the dock to run and take Rapunzel into his arms.

He watched her as she continued to walk down the dock, but suddenly panic seemed to spread across her face and she turned around. Flynn noticed that her hair was long, stretching out far behind her and was slowly turning lighter till it was completely blonde. Something caught Flynn's eye and he now noticed two women standing behind Rapunzel, pulling on her hair and trying to make her come to them.

His mouth went dry as he recognized one girl was Clarissa, but the other woman was a complete stranger. Her hair was black and looked like she had had a bad perm, causing her hair to stick up in all different directions. As she pulled on Rapunzel's hair she seemed to grow younger, losing wrinkles and single gray hairs that used to sit in random sections of her hair.

Rapunzel turned back to face Flynn and he could see that there were tears welling up in her eyes. "What did you do?" She yelled at him and started to back away from him toward Clarissa and the other woman.

"What? I didn't-" Flynn slowly rose from his spot on the dock and stuck up his hands innocently.

"Why did you have to go and do that? Why can't you just accept who you are and what you want for once?" She was still yelling and continued to back away from him. He didn't want her to give in to them. He didn't want to lose her.

"Rapunzel, I didn't mean to! I was confused! Don't go! Stay with me." He started to take a few steps forward and reach a hand out.

"I don't want to stay with you! I don't ever want to see you again!" She was finally standing with Clarissa and the black haired woman. Flynn watched as the black haired woman took Rapunzel's hands and cuffed them behind her back, whispering something in her ear. Rapunzel began to cry harder and hung her head.

"No!" Flynn started running toward her, his heart pounding. "Leave her alone! Rapunzel!" Suddenly the dock began to deteriorate in front of him, getting closer and closer. The woman started to lead Rapunzel away from the dock and into the shadows.

"Rapunzel!" The dock in front of Flynn crumpled and he was suddenly plunged downward, but instead of feeling the sting of the cold water he just continued to fall into complete darkness.

"Rapunzel!"

Flynn gasped and shot up from his spot on the bed. The sun was shining through his window, making the sweat on his skin glisten and making him feel sticky. He looked around quickly and noticed that his clothes seemed to be scattered around carelessly as if...no. What happened?

He glanced over to the spot on his bed next to him, but instead of finding a girl he noticed a note placed neatly on the pillow. He reached over and opened it, reading the scratched words on the paper.

Flynn, I had to head into work early because Grace had to attend some funeral. I was going to wake you, but I figured I wouldn't make the hangover I know you're going to have even worse. I hope to see you later tonight so we could have some more fun. Find me later, handsome, or I'll be forced to find you.

Clarissa

Clarissa? Flynn leaned back onto his pillow and placed his hands over his face. What had he done? Not only had he slept with the girl he was supposed to be breaking things off with, but he had also betrayed Rapunzel. Wait...how had he betrayed her? Rapunzel and him weren't dating or anything like that. It's not like they were technically together, they had just been hanging out lately and nothing more. Even though he really wanted more.

Flynn tore his hands away from his eyes and leaped out of bed. He dressed quickly and then stood at his window. What was he supposed to do now? He had really done it this time. He had just claimed that other day that he was completely done with Clarissa yet he was back at square one. How was he possibly supposed to get out of this one? After he had managed to get away from her a little bit and things were going so well with Rapunzel. Whoa, where did Rapunzel fall in this equation? Why did it matter what she thought of they whole situation anyway? She was just some girl that, for some reason, Flynn had gone the extra mile for in order to get her in bed. Sure, that hadn't happened yet, but he was sure it would soon. Maybe this would be a little bit of a push for her to hurry up and get in bed with him before he just dropped her and walked away. Or maybe she just didn't need to find out about this at all.

That was it. She didn't need to know. He could just act like it had never happened. There really was no reason to cause any problems right? It wasn't worth any trouble, and besides, it's not like she was his girlfriend or anything like that. He wasn't committed to her, so he should be able to do whatever he wanted without any consequences...right?

Flynn furrowed his brow and crossed her arms.

Lying to Rapunzel didn't feel right though. She made it clear the day before that both had separate walls up and he was sure that this information would only make those walls grow taller.

He wasn't lying though; he just wasn't going to tell her what happened. That wasn't technically lying...right?

Flynn shook her head as if to cast away his thoughts and ran a quick hand through his hair. What was he supposed to do now? Go find Rapunzel and move on? Go talk to Clarissa and assure her that things between them were over? Or maybe he should just avoid both of them and take a little time to himself.

Flynn decided that he liked option number three the most and turned away from the window, falling back onto his bed. A few more hours of sleep couldn't hurt.

* * *

The sun had been setting when Flynn woke up and it seemed as though his few more hours of sleep turned into a day's event. Before he could even start to think about Rapunzel, Clarissa, and what he should do, he got up from his bed, smoothed his hair down a bit, and then left to go to the Snuggly Duckling.

At the time it had seemed like a good idea, but now that he was actually here it just didn't seem as appealing as before. Flynn sat himself down at the bar and debated whether he should order a beer or not. Drinking had been the cause of last night's events and he wasn't sure he wanted to get into that situation again.

Flynn glanced over his shoulder and then around him in order to see if Clarissa was anywhere to be found. Based on her note, Flynn assumed that she probably thought he would be here tonight and she would come looking for him. Yikes, that almost sounded like a nightmare.

"Flynn?"

Flynn jumped and turned his head so he was now looking forward. Hook was standing in front of him, lifting a brow in confusion.

"You okay?"

Flynn let out a small laugh, "Me? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm always fine." Flynn snuck another quick look over his shoulder and then turned his attention back to Hook once again.

"Alright. Well, what can I get you?" Hook clapped his hands together and then gave Flynn a proud look.

Flynn decided to order a drink despite what had happened between Clarissa and him the night before.

"A beer would be great. Thanks."

Hook grabbed a mug from under the counter and placed it under the tap, filling the mug up with cold beer.

"She's not here, you know."

Flynn furrowed his grow and looked at Hook. "What?"

Hook turned off the tap and slid the beer over to Flynn, "Clarissa's isn't here. I know that's who you're looking for. So much for getting rid of her, huh? She might as well be your personal ball and chain." Hook began to laugh and shook his head at Flynn smugly.

"Shut up, Hook. I was wasted last night. The least you could have done is try to get me out of it. You knew I didn't want to be involved with her and yet you still stood by as I invited her back to my place."

Hook held up his hands up, "Whoa there. Don't go blaming this on me, boy. This is your problem."

Flynn wasn't willing to take all of the blame though. Sure, he had been stupid and allowed Clarissa to come home with him, but she had taken advantage of him while he was drunk and Hook had just stood by and let him make a stupid mistake.

"Whatever, Hook. Things got out of hand with Clarissa last night, but it won't happen again."

Hook scoffed, "Save your breath, Rider. I've heard this all before."

Flynn took a sip of his beer and then placed it back on the counter. "I mean it, Hook. Last night was a complete mistake and it shouldn't have gone that far. I don't want Clarissa."

"You want Rapunzel," Hook crossed his arms and leaned against the counter behind him, smiling smugly once again.

"What? Well, physically, yeah I want Rapunzel. Nothing beyond that though. I plan to get in there and get out. Simple." Flynn shrugged and took a big swig of his drink.

"Get in and get out, huh? I didn't know that also included spending the day with her and going out of your way to get to know her. I've seen the gleam in your eye and heard the tone in your voice when you talk about her or even when you say her name. You even mentioned her last night when Clarissa was hitting on you."

This caught Flynn's attention and he put his beer down. "I did? What did I say?"

"You said -"

Suddenly Hook cut himself off just as Flynn felt a hand land on his shoulder. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut and hope the hand would disappear because there was only one person it could belong to; Clarissa.

However, when Flynn finally turned to see whom it was standing next to him he was surprised to find a thin, black haired woman with cold blue eyes giving him a seductive look.

"Hello," the woman spoke and gave him a small smile. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Uh..." Flynn looked from the woman over to Hook who only shrugged. "Go for it."

The woman sat down on the bar stool beside Flynn and grossed her legs, making her dress rise even higher.

Normally the short length of a women's skirt would drive Flynn wild, but not tonight. He almost pitied the woman for her poor effort.

"So, can I buy you a few shots?" The woman leaned closer to Flynn and placed a hand on his knee.

"If you insist, sweetheart." Flynn let out a small laugh and shrugged. There it was again. Under the warmth of the woman's hand, Flynn felt his old instincts return to him. The same instincts that would land this woman in his bed later tonight, having the time of her life.

* * *

Flynn woke up for the second day in a row to a room with clothes scattered everywhere and sweat on his forehead. There were no recollection of any scary dreams though and instead of finding the space next to him in his bed empty, he found the black haired woman lying there. Her hair was tangled around her and she was snoring quietly. Flynn placed his hands over his face like he had done the day before and once again wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now.

There was only one thing he could do. Flynn hopped up and slid on his underwear, which stirred the woman lying in his bed. She slowly opened her eyes and began to stretch slightly. She looked as if she had no idea where she was, until her eyes found Flynn and a smile spread across her face.

"Hello, lover."

Flynn felt him cringe at her words and hoped that she could see how her words pained him.

"Um, hello."

Flynn stood next to the bed, looking down at the woman as she looked up at him. He was hoping that she could read his eyes and take the hint that he wanted her to get out, but of course, she didn't.

"So," the woman shifted slightly so that the blanket now slid away from her and her naked body was now exposed. "Should we go for round three?"

Round three? They had done it twice already? Too bad Flynn didn't remember any of it.

"No, no. Actually, I would prefer if you left." It was harsh, but Flynn wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush. He wasn't interested in sleeping with this woman now, or ever again. He had wished he hadn't slept with her at all. It was a mistake.

Instead of looking offended or beginning to cry, the woman shocked Flynn by laughing. She got up from the bed, unbothered by being naked in front of Flynn as she gathered some of her clothes.

"You know, they said you were like this."

Flynn furrowed her brow and crossed his arms. "Like what?"

"Oh you know," the woman slid on her underwear and then started to step into her dress, "a player. You just sleep with girls and then kick them out the next morning. Basically, you use women as you please and never feel a bit of remorse. It's just a sick game you play. You love the attention one minute, and the next you want nothing to do with the woman giving it to you. You're pathetic."

Flynn shrugged and smiled as he shook his head. "So you found it necessary to seduce me at the bar with your short dress and alcohol in order to test this theory of yours? That sounds a little trashy."

The woman's smile faded a little and she narrowed her eyes slightly. She finished dressing and then pulled her bag over her shoulder before she walked over to Flynn.

"Let's get something straight. It's not a theory. It's a fact. You use woman. You use your good looks and charm to win them over, get them into bed, and then kick them out in the morning. The sex last night was the best I've ever had, but while the sex was amazing, you're less than ideal. Women don't want a pathetic man who is obviously damaged and lonely, but is too afraid to admit it. You're not as hot as you think, baby."

The woman stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, looking completely smug. Flynn lifted a brow and let out a quick laugh.

"Don't even begin to act like you know me. You're just some dumb whore who decided to pathetically approach me in a short dress in order to lure me in when in reality the only reason I slept with you is because I felt sorry for you. You were trying way too hard and I figured I should give you something for your efforts. But get this through your head," Flynn took a step closer to the woman, "I don't give a shit about what you or any other woman has to say about me. You all mean absolutely nothing to me. Now get the fuck out of my place."

Flynn pointed to the door and stared at the woman. She looked completely shocked that Flynn had just cursed at her and as if she had forgotten how to move.

"Get out." Flynn repeated through his teeth.

The woman turned away suddenly and headed toward to door.

"Oh, and one more thing," the woman turned to look at Flynn. "Don't call me baby."

The woman rolled her eyes and then slammed the door behind her, making one of Flynn's photos hung on the wall rattle a little bit.

"You sure showed me, dumb bitch," Flynn said to himself as he gathered up his clothes and began to dress.

He began to think about the woman's words and felt relieved to find that he actually didn't care what she, and any other women, thought about him. If they thought he was an asshole then that was their choice. It really didn't matter to him in the end.

* * *

Flynn leaned on his elbows on the railing of his balcony as he looked down at the walkway below him. There seemed to be more traffic than usual and Flynn was curious as to where all of these people were going on what seemed like an insignificant evening.

Flynn had decided to stay home for the day in order to avoid seeing Clarissa, the black haired woman, or any of those other women who seemed to have formed some sort of club dedicated to gossiping about Flynn. He couldn't help but think about Rapunzel throughout the day though. He hadn't seen her in almost two full days and he wondered what she was up to. Should he be wondering those kinds of things though? Normally he wouldn't care and just decide that he would see her when he sees her and nothing more. However, he hoped that this time a part wouldn't cause her to lose interest and jeopardize his chances of getting with her.

Just as Flynn was about to leave his balcony and go back inside, he caught the familiar blend of brown and purple and spotted a girl who looked like Rapunzel in the crowd below. He watched her for a couple of moments and noticed that people seemed to step out of her way when they saw her coming and wondered why that was. It was as if they were afraid to be in her way or felt obligated to move.

"Rapunzel!" Flynn was surprised to hear his own voice as he called out her name, but he was even more surprised to see not only Rapunzel, but also the entire crowd stop and look up at him. Flynn glanced from some of the faces in the crowd back to Rapunzel, expecting to see a smile spread across her face. Instead she appeared emotionless and just continued to walk quickly down the walkway.

"Rapunzel?" Flynn said more to himself and then turned around to run through his apartment, down the stairs, and down the walkway to her. When he got near, he grabbed the back of her elbow gently, causing her to turn around and look at him.

"Hey Rapunzel," he said as if she hadn't heard him say her name only a few moments ago from his balcony.

"Hi," Rapunzel looked away from Flynn and into the distance as if she were distracted by something. This took Flynn by surprise. Normally she was so bubbly and friendly, but now she seemed as though she would rather be anywhere, but here with him.

"Are you okay?" Flynn slid his hand away from her elbow and let it fall back to his side. He didn't mean to make her feel uncomfortable or anything. In all honesty he didn't really know what came over him to make him call out her name in the first place and chase her down the path.

"Yeah, everything is fine." Rapunzel crossed her arms and continued to avoid Flynn's eyes.

What was with her? Why was she acting so strange and completely blowing him off?

"Are you sure? You don't seem okay." Why did Flynn care? Normally he would just shrug it off and let it go from the first "everything is fine," but he actually wanted to know what was wrong with Rapunzel. He wanted to know if he had done something.

"Yes, Flynn. I'm fine." Rapunzel looked down at her feet and then uncrossed her arms. After a few moments of her looking down at her feet, and Flynn studying her expression, trying to get an idea of what could have possibly upset her, Rapunzel met Flynn's eyes for the first time. "I have to go."

Flynn furrowed his brow, "Where are you going?"

Rapunzel let out a small sigh, "I just have to go."

"Look, Rapunzel. If I've done something to upset me, you can just go ahead and tell me." Flynn was surprised at how calm he was. Normally in this type of situation he would get heated and immediately start yelling, but for some reason he couldn't do that with Rapunzel.

"You didn't," Rapunzel stated seriously and held his eye contact. He could tell that she was mad about something. If she wasn't mad, then she was definitely hurt or something because her eyes seemed way too fierce.

"I obviously did. I can tell that you're upset with me about something and I would prefer if you would just come out and say it." Flynn continued to press her. He felt like he needed to know what was wrong. He couldn't understand why, but he just couldn't let her walk away like this.

"Flynn, please. I don't feel like talking about this here." Rapunzel glanced around her and then met his eyes once again.

"Fine, then let's go down to the lake or something."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. I have to go."

"Rapunzel, just talk to me. What did I do?" Flynn heard something in his voice that he had never heard before and felt a little taken back. Why was he trying to talk to her so badly? Why should he care?

"What do you mean, 'What did I do?' You know what you did," Rapunzel gestured toward him and shook her head as if she highly disapproved of him.

Flynn frowned and still felt slightly confused, "Care to clarify?"

Rapunzel brought one of her hands up and pressed it to her forehead, looking especially irritated. "Flynn, do we really have to have this conversation right now?"

"Yes, we do," Flynn stated seriously and kept his eyes focused on her. He needed to know.

Rapunzel let her hand slid away from her face and then met Flynn's eyes once again. "I know what you did with those two women, Flynn."

"What?" Flynn tried to appear unbothered on the outside, but could feel himself panic slightly on the inside. How did she know about Clarissa and the woman from last night already? Had the black haired woman already spread the news around and all of these "facts" she had about Flynn?

"I know that you went home with two girls the past couple of nights," Rapunzel licked her lips and seemed in control.

"I, uh - how do you -"

"I was out and about the past two nights and I saw you walking home with both women on those separate occasions. You seemed a little...out of sorts." Rapunzel shrugged and kept her expression serious. It was hard to read what she was thinking. Flynn wasn't sure what exactly she was mad about. He wasn't even sure she had the right to be mad at him for anything in this situation, but still he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He had decided to not tell her about Clarissa or the other woman at all, but now she seemed to know the whole story already. Great.

"Rapunzel, I -"

Rapunzel put a hand up to cute Flynn off, "Save it, Flynn. Look, I don't have a lot of experience with guys and this sort of thing and I guess I misunderstood what was going on here." She moved her hand back and forth from Flynn to herself as if showing some sort of bond between them.

There it was. It wasn't her saying she loved him or anything like that, but she had admitted to thinking there was something more happening between them. Sure, it was something more than a normal friendship, but the more only consisted of Flynn's desire to be close to her physically, but not emotionally. Now what was he supposed to do?

"I'm really sorry if I gave you the impression that there was something more going on here. I didn't mean to upset you." Flynn tried to pick his words wisely, but they still felt wrong as he said them aloud. It was as if they tasted bad in his mouth and he wasn't sure of what to make of them.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault." Rapunzel looked down, "I guess I just let my imagination get the best of me. I can see that you have other plans though and I wouldn't want to get in the way." She looked up once again and pressed her lips into a line. "I can see you have a different approach when it comes to intimacy." Rapunzel then extended her hand for Flynn to take, "Goodbye, Flynn. I'll see you around."

Flynn took her hand and stared into her eyes. He was sure that they had never shared such a serious moment. "Goodbye, Rapunzel."

Then without a single moment of hesitation, Rapunzel turned around and walked quickly down the path without looking back.

It was in that moment as Flynn watched her walk away and not being able to see her beautiful green eyes anymore, that things were not as he thought they were. When he had told the black haired woman this morning that he didn't care what any woman thought of him he had been lying. He cared what Rapunzel thought of him.


	7. Chapter 7: Delayed Realization

"I'm losing my mind. I'm losing my mind," Flynn continued to repeat himself over and over again. He was currently sitting on the edge of the dock with his hands over his face. For the first time since he moved to Corona, the lake had failed to soothe him. It was as if the lake was also punishing him for making such recent bad decisions and now he lost his "happy place" because of it.

Flynn slid his hands up his face and through his hair, trying to calm himself further. He had only talked to Rapunzel about an hour ago and he already felt as if he had completely lost himself. He had never felt this way before and he couldn't help but classify it as torture. What did these feelings mean anyway? Was it a good or a bad sign to actually care what a woman thinks about you and wanting so badly to go to her and just apologize till everything is right once again?

Rapunzel hadn't screamed at Flynn and seemed calm about the whole thing, but then there was the fact that she had confessed she thought there was something more going on between them. Meaning she thought Flynn actually had these real feelings for her and had more plans for them then just sleeping together. So she wasn't completely uninterested in him and was obviously hurt by the fact that he had been sleeping with other women. Did that make Flynn feel confident and powerful though? No. Not this time. Normally it would, but now it just made him feel awful.

Plus, there was the fact that Rapunzel had said that they had different ideas when it came to intimacy. What was that supposed to mean? That she noticed the fact that he liked to sleep with multiple women at a time? Did she prefer emotional intimacy and what seemed like small, insignificant touches rather than Flynn's levels of intimacy?

Flynn gripped his hair in his hands and closed his eyes. Why did she have to be so confusing? She sure didn't let a lot off and she seemed more interested in avoiding the conversation all together rather than voicing her thoughts and feelings. Flynn couldn't blame her though. He basically did the same thing. They both had specific things that they liked to keep to themselves, which wasn't such a bad thing. But in this case it was so damn frustrating.

Flynn opened his eyes and let his arms fall to his sides. What could he possibly do now? If he sat here alone his thoughts would drive him mad. If he went to the Snuggly Duckling he was only asking for trouble. He had nowhere to go at the moment. There were so many problems in his head to address; yet he couldn't tend to any of them. Flynn had never been put in this type of situation before. These were the kind of situations that he tried to avoid altogether and now he was in too deep.

How had he gotten in so deep anyway? Rapunzel wasn't like any of those other clingy girls. She hadn't started bawling at his feet and claiming that she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She just said that she thought there was more going on between them, obviously not, and gave them both the chance to move on. So shouldn't Flynn be doing that right now? Shouldn't he be down at the Snuggly Duckling trying to bring another girl home? That's usually what he would do. Normally it didn't matter if something like this happened because there were always more girls in the world. This time it was different though, because none of those other girls were Rapunzel.

There it was. The truth. It was so obvious, yet Flynn had been running from it this whole time. He continuously told himself that he just really wanted to make his way with this girl, yet his feelings were way beyond that. He had gone the extra mile for her and spent so much time with her already. Not because he just wanted a lay, but because she never ceased to amaze him. From the first moment he saw her publicly swimming in the lake in her underwear, or when she tackled him to the ground to get her paintings back instead of alerting the guards, or the way she bounced around so happily all the time, or the way she walked around barefoot like it was nothing, or even when she put Flynn in his place about not sharing any personal information, he couldn't help but think she was completely amazing.

Rapunzel had to be the most adorable, frustrating, bubbly, feisty, beautiful, sweet, caring, talented, confusing girl he had ever met, but he liked her. She was the only girl who had ever made Flynn feel this way and he wasn't sure he wanted to lose that. He had been running from it for so long and suddenly he didn't want to run anymore. Rapunzel was just too good to lose and he wasn't ready to let her go.

Why did he have to be such an idiot and sleep with Clarissa and whoever that other woman was? Why couldn't he have accepted these feelings beforehand and never hurt Rapunzel in the first place?

"_Why can't you just accept who you are and what you want for once?" _

Flynn could suddenly hear Rapunzel's words from his dream echo through his head and shook his head. He hated the fact that he had hurt her and he needed to do something, now.

Flynn hopped up from his spot on the dock and then stood there, completely lost. What could he possibly do though? He wasn't familiar with these feelings and how you were supposed to act once you acknowledged such feelings. There was one thing that he had to do though; get a second opinion. He had to know that these feelings he had been having were real and he wasn't just losing it.

Where could he go though? Who could he talk to? Flynn looked down at the wood boards of the dock and tried to think of one person he could talk to. Someone who could possibly have noticed how he felt about Rapunzel and tell him he wasn't completely crazy.

Then is hit him. There was one person who knew almost everything that had been going on between Rapunzel and him, and he needed to talk to him as soon as possible.

* * *

Flynn practically threw open the door to the Snuggly Duckling and quickly scanned the room. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, but he didn't care. He had more important things to worry about.

Then he saw him. Hook walked out of the back room of the pub, laughing with one of the other bartenders, Phillip. Flynn jogged over to Hook until he was standing right in front of him.

"Excuse me," Flynn said quickly to the Phillip. "Hook, I really have to talk to it."

Hook stifled a laugh, "Flynn, you okay buddy? You look a little flustered."

Flynn furrowed his brow and waved a hand in the air as if he were swatting away Hook's statement. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I just really have to talk to you. It's important."

Hook sighed and then looked over to Phillip, "Would you give us a minute?" Phillip nodded and then walked behind the counter in order to start his shift.

Hook turned back to Flynn and then crossed his arms. "Alright, Rider. What's this all about?"

"Okay, look, I know I've came in here basically everyday or every night and talked to you about Rapunzel. You basically know everything about what's being happening between us…well most everything-"

"Except you've failed to verbally express how you feel about her," Hook interrupted Flynn in order to help him out.

Flynn lifted a brow and nodded, "Right. Anyway, I know last night that you said I wanted Rapunzel, and at the time I just ignored it, but…"

"Flynn, where exactly is this going?"

Flynn sighed and furrowed his brow once again, "Look, you've heard me talk about Rapunzel everyday and all you hear is me just telling you that I want to sleep with her and nothing beyond that, yet you still said that I want her. I know for a fact that when you said that I want her that you didn't mean just physically. You meant in a sense that goes way beyond that."

"Right."

"How could you have possibly known that? How did you know that I felt this way before I even did?" Flynn shook his head, "I just need to know that I'm not crazy. I want to make sure that I'm not just making up these feelings for some reason and I'm really just mistaking them for something else. Although…I'm pretty sure I'm not."

Hook lifted a brow, "Are you serious?"

Flynn pressed his lips into a line and nodded. He was completely serious. He had to know how Hook knew and that if his feelings for Rapunzel were as genuine as they seemed. He needed a second opinion.

Hook sighed once again, "Flynn, you didn't have to say you had feelings for her. It was in the way that you said her name, or the fact that you actually wanted to talk about her, or how your mood seemed to change once you were no longer with her after a short period of time. It was as if after not being around her for a little while that you just seemed bummed out. I know that's partly because you were confused about how you felt, but it was obvious that you wanted to be around her more. The fact that you actually went looking for her and took the time to get to know her just proves that you cared. That's way too far for Flynn Rider to go for a girl."

Flynn didn't know how to feel once Hook stopped talking. He didn't know if he should be relieved or annoyed. Was he supposed to be happy that he felt this way about Rapunzel? Or was he supposed to be irritated with himself that he let it go this far?

"Oh, by the way, last night when you asked what you said to Clarissa when you mentioned Rapunzel. Well, Clarissa came up to you and the first thing you said to her was, 'You're not Rapunzel.' Seems like she's a high priority in your mind."

Flynn couldn't help but laugh. Obviously he had saved himself from that situation because Clarissa and him had still slept together, but it was obvious that Rapunzel was the girl on his mind even when he was intoxicated.

Hook uncrossed his arms and put them on Flynn's shoulders. "Trust me, Flynn. You like her. You wouldn't be here asking me how I knew if you didn't. You need to go find her and try to sort out whatever mess you got yourself into. You'll regret it if you don't."

Flynn smiled and nodded, "You're right. I have to go talk to her. I need to fix this."

Hook smiled back and gave Flynn a pat on the back as if to give him confidence.

"Thanks, Hook." Flynn quickly made his way to the door, but just before he was about to reach for the handle, Clarissa slipped in front of him, completely blocking his way.

"Hey, Flynn." Clarissa gave him a sexy smile and awkwardly batted her eyelashes at him. Flynn almost scrunched his nose in disgust. Had he really been into this sort of thing before?

"Clarissa, I don't have time for this. I have to be somewhere." He tried to reach around her in order to catch the doorknob, but she suddenly pressed herself into Flynn and breathed on his neck.

"You never have to actually be somewhere, Flynn. Just stay. We'll have some fun." Clarissa leaned in to give Flynn a kiss on neck, but he pulled away from her and held his arms out in front of him to make sure she didn't step close to him again.

"No, stop. Just stay away from me. I don't want to be with you, okay?" Flynn could see Clarissa instantly get offended and watched as her eyes began to slightly gloss with tears.

"You don't want to be with me…but we…we're so perfect together. You know we are." She tried to take a step toward him once again, but Flynn only moved back and kept his arms out.

"No, we're not. Not even close." Flynn sighed and then shook his head. "Look, Clarissa, you deserve the truth. I used you. I just wanted to have sex with you, but I never actually had feelings for you. There's never going to anything more between us. Ever." It was harsh and obviously killing her, but it had to be said. He had to put a stop to this, especially if he wanted to be with Rapunzel. Be with Rapunzel…that was something he would have to get used to.

"You don't mean that. I love you, and you love me." Clarissa shook her head and Flynn watched as a few tears ran down her cheeks. She was relentless.

"Clarissa, stop. You're making a fool out of yourself. You know I don't love you, and you don't love me. I like someone else, okay?"

"You _like _someone else? Just because you like someone else, we can't be together?" Clarissa was beginning to blabber and it was definitely getting on Flynn's nerves.

"That's exactly what it means. I've never felt the way I feel about this girl and I want to be with her."

"You're lying, Flynn. Why do you keep running from your feelings for me? You know we're perfect together!" Clarissa tried to get close to him once again, but instead he moved around her and grabbed the doorknob, opening the door.

"Not even close, Clarissa." Flynn slid out of the door and closed it hard behind him, hearing Clarissa's screams and knocking from the other side. He quickly dashed away from the pub, hoping that someone would grab her and refrain her from following him.

* * *

Where could Rapunzel be? Where would she possibly go when she was hurt or needed to relax? She wouldn't be at the lake because she would know that Flynn would most likely be there. She wouldn't be up in the main part of town because she may assume that's the first place he may look. She didn't have any art classes at this time of night. So where could she be?

"Happy place…the meadow," Flynn breathed and instantly knew he was right. She had told him that she liked to spend time in the meadow when she needed to be alone and that's surely where she would be. He had gone to the lake, which hadn't worked, so she had to have gone to her happy place as well, right? It was worth a shot either way and Flynn was willing to try anything at this point.

Flynn racked his brain and tried to remember how Rapunzel had described to get to the meadow.

"_If you go through the trees by the art classrooms opposite of the way into the heart of the kingdom, then you run into that meadow."_

"Please be there."

* * *

Flynn continued to walk through the trees. It felt as if he had been walking forever and he was sure that he had taken a wrong turn at some point, or maybe incorrectly remembered Rapunzel's directions. He was hoping that wasn't the case and he would run into the meadow soon, but his chances were looking a little slim at this moment.

What was he even going to say to her once he saw her anyway? He should have rehearsed with Hook or something, but at the time he was just so focused on finding her and fixing things as fast as he could that he didn't even think about it.

Flynn was thinking about turning around and heading back into the main part of the kingdom, when he saw the trees start to clear out in front of him. This had to be it. It was a little dark, but he could still make out of the meadow somewhat.

"Please, please be here."

Flynn continued to walk through the last of the trees that bordered the meadow and let his eyes adjust. Then he saw it. A little lamp lit only about thirty feet in front of him, and he could see a hand and paintbrush slightly lit up.

She was here.

Flynn tried to be as quiet as possible as he made his way over to her. Her back was currently to him and he didn't want to startle her, but he also didn't want her to see him from a far distance away, pack up, and leave before he could reach or catch up to her.

Once he was close enough, Flynn stopped just a few feet behind her and watched her gentle strokes. The lamp that she had lit was now making her whole body visible as well as her painting she was working on.

Flynn wanted to say something, but he couldn't. This was quite odd to him because he had never really had this problem, but then again, he had never been in a situation like this before. Flynn brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck in order to buy some more time and gain some confidence.

"Rapunzel?" He finally said and watched as she quickly turned around to see who was calling her name.

He watched as she squinted slightly, "Flynn?"

"Yeah. It's me."

Rapunzel turned back around and began to work on her painting once again, "Well go away."

Go away? Flynn felt a little offended. He was hoping that she wasn't going to be difficult, but he knew she would be anyway.

"Do you know how long it took me to walk all the way here through all those trees and in almost pure darkness?"

"No, and I don't care. You shouldn't have come." Rapunzel still continued to face the other direction and her tone seemed careless.

_Don't start acting impassive when I'm going to finally show that I care. _

"Yes, I should have." Flynn moved over to her and sat down right next to her, noting the fact that she didn't scoot away from him or anything. "Don't tell me that you're not a little glad to see me."

Rapunzel put down her brush and looked over at him, "I'm not happy to see you, Flynn. Which is exactly why I told you I had to go. I wanted to be alone." She then started putting her stuff back into her bag and stood up, indicating that she was leaving.

"Rapunzel, please. Just hear me out," Flynn said as he stood up as well. There was that tone of voice that he had only heard for the first time earlier that day again.

"There's nothing to hear, Flynn. You slept with those two women and obviously this is something that you enjoy doing, so why should I stop you? I know that you don't have feelings for me and that you only wanted to sleep with me. I got that after seeing you drunkenly walk home with both of those women and only show physical interest." Rapunzel wasn't yelling or even raising her voice. She was calmly stating her facts and didn't seem bothered whatsoever.

"No, you have it all wrong. I-"

"Flynn, just save you excuses, please. You don't have to feel obligated to try and fix this just so you don't have a bad reputation or something. I don't want to hold you back or anything. You deserve to be happy."

"But, that's not what I'm doing. I'm-"

"I know that I don't mean anything to you and I didn't mean to waste your time."

Flynn hated Rapunzel's last words. He hated the fact that she had said them and her tone implied that she actually believed them. He didn't want to hear her say anything like that ever again.

"I know that my-"

Before Rapunzel could say whatever it was that she was planning to say, Flynn grabbed both of the sides of her face and pressed his lips against hers, hoping that she wouldn't pull away from him. This was the only way that he really knew how to show that he cared and he was hoping that it would actually work.

Flynn was assuming that his first kiss with Rapunzel would be just like any other kiss he had ever had, but he was dead wrong. Now he knew what people were referring to when they felt a certain spark when kissing someone. It felt like an electric current was moving through his veins, which only strengthened when he suddenly felt Rapunzel kissing him back.

Holy shit, she was kissing him back. Did she feel the same thing he was feeling right now? He sure hoped so because it was exhilarating.

Finally, Flynn pulled away from Rapunzel and looked down into her green eyes, keeping his hands placed on the sides of her face.

"You're wrong. You do mean something to me, but I was too stupid to see it before. It took me hurting you to realize that…I like you. I like you a lot, Rapunzel and I'm not saying that because I want to sleep with you or get close to you physically. I just want to be around you. I like everything about you and I want…to be with you."

Rapunzel smiled and Flynn was glad to see that she wasn't tearing up or anything. She suddenly let out a small giggle, which made a wide grin spread across Flynn's face.

* * *

Flynn carried Rapunzel's lantern as they walked out of the forest and made their way back to the main part of the kingdom. They walked close together, but didn't touch or hold hands. It was a little odd for Flynn not to have any close contact, but he didn't mind. He could feel a certain wave of electricity still running between them and that was good enough for him.

They finally stopped in front of the stone ledge that over looked the lake and faced one another.

"Well I guess this is where we say goodbye," Rapunzel smiled and gave a small shrug.

"I guess so. Your lantern," Flynn returned Rapunzel's smile and handed her the lantern he had been carrying.

"Thank you. Oh, I want you to have this," Rapunzel reached into her bag and handed Flynn the painting she had been working on back at the meadow. Flynn's smile widened as he studied the painting.

"Are those supposed to be the lanterns they release into the night sky for the princess every year on her birthday?"

Rapunzel swayed a little and flashed an almost embarrassed smile. "Yeah. I made them reflect off of the lake because I thought you might like it. That being your favorite place and all. So there's a little piece of you and a little piece of me."

Flynn smiled and repeated Rapunzel's words in his head. _"So there's a little piece of you and a little piece of me."_

"Thank you. It's amazing."

Rapunzel nodded and then tucked some hair behind her ear. "Well, I better get going. It's getting late."

Flynn smiled and took a step closer to her. "Be safe, okay?" He then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers again, feeling those same sparks for the second time.

"Okay," Rapunzel said as they pulled a part and Flynn could see that her cheeks seemed to have turned a little pink.

"Bye," he said as he flashed her his pearly whites and began to back away.

"Goodbye, Flynn." Rapunzel then backed away and turned around, heading in the opposite direction.

Flynn continued to back up and watched her for a few more seconds before he turned around as well and headed for his place, a permanent smile spread across his face.


	8. Chapter 8: Just Getting Started

"Well, then I just kissed her. She was in the middle of talking and I just went for it. Probably the most terrifying thing I've ever done." Flynn flashed Hook and Phillip a smile as he told them what had happened between Rapunzel and him at the meadow.

"So, she just forgave you? Just like that?" Hook lifted a brow and tried to seem disapproving, but Flynn could see he was trying to hide the smile that was showing at the corner of his mouth.

"We talked a little bit more and then I guess she just understood. That's just the kind of girl she is. She's understanding and practical about these sorts of things. I guess my feelings really are obvious because after I kissed her, she didn't question me at all. She seemed to know just how much I liked her already."

"I think we all can see how much you like her already. Flynn Rider doesn't settle," Phillip laughed and tossed his rag on the counter. Flynn chuckled as well. He knew it was true. There was no way to possibly doubt his feelings for Rapunzel because he had never gone this far for a girl before. His feelings even showed now when he wasn't even with her. He was still upbeat and enjoyed talking about Rapunzel instead of trying to play it cool and seem nonchalant.

A week had passed since Rapunzel and Flynn had made up and decided to actually make themselves some sort of couple. It wasn't like the whole entire kingdom knew, but Rapunzel and him knew. They actually made plans together and held hands when they were alone. They were minor details that usually went with a relationship, but Flynn wasn't used to these small gestures meaning so much to him. He had held girls' hands all the time, but it was never like this. He enjoyed every second he had with Rapunzel and there was no way of denying it.

"I just can't believe that she still took you back after you decided to be such an idiot. She must really like you as well." Hook leaned against the bar and crossed his arms, shooting Flynn a smug smile.

Flynn smiled and looked down at his hands. The fact that Rapunzel liked Flynn back as well was almost exhilarating to him. Hell, he had girls who had liked him before and even loved him, but it wasn't the same. Rapunzel liking him even the slightest bit still made him as giddy as a seven-year-old boy.

"Well." Flynn patted the counter and then stood up from his stool, "I should probably go. I'm supposed to meet Rapunzel in the meadow at eleven. I'll see you guys later."

Flynn turned and headed out of the door of the Snuggly Duckling, hearing Hook calling after him.

"Have fun, lover boy!"

* * *

Flynn stopped at the edge of the meadow as he caught sight of Rapunzel twirling slowly and humming to herself. He couldn't help but smile at her carefree attitude. She seemed so free and so content that Flynn didn't even want to disturb her. He only wanted to remain where he was and watch her openly run around the meadow.

Rapunzel stopped twirling and was completely facing Flynn, her eyes immediately meeting his.

"Oh no, a ruffian! Stay back! I'm warning you!" Rapunzel started backing away slowly and kept her expression completely serious, although Flynn could hear the humor in her voice.

He took a few steps forward and watched as Rapunzel's eyes widened in amusement and she backed up even more.

"Don't come any closer!"

Just then Flynn took off from his spot surrounding the meadow and ran toward Rapunzel at full speed. She let out a little squeal and then continued to run away from Flynn as fast as she could. It was a bit of a chase, but due to all of Flynn's climbing and traveling, he still had some speed on her.

Flynn closed the gap between them and scooped Rapunzel up with one arm around her waist. She instantly started to laugh and squirmed in Flynn's grasp.

"No! Stop! Let me go!" Her tone was completely unconvincing due to the uncontrollable gasps of laughter that came in between each word.

"You don't want me to stop. Trust me."

Flynn then tripped on a loose root, sending both Rapunzel and him to the ground. They were both now overcome with laughter and tangled up in one another. Rapunzel attempted to be sneaky and push away from Flynn, but he caught her arms and then pinned her on her back, pinning her arms to the sides of her head as well.

"Oh no you don't." Flynn said as Rapunzel continued to squirm. Her legs were still fully accessible and Flynn was afraid that she might actually try to kick him in a place he wasn't too fond of getting kicked.

In order to prevent any accidents from happening, Flynn brought himself completely on top of Rapunzel, pinning himself against her in order to stop her legs from thrashing about.

"Ha. Now what are you going to do?" Flynn had been so focused on pinning her down and making sure she wouldn't fight back, that he didn't even notice just how their bodies had been positioned. For him this close body contact was normal and natural, but based on Rapunzel's facial expression, she didn't think the same. She almost looked frightened, or was she uncomfortable? Should he get off of her?

Flynn's smile faded a little and he suddenly felt his heart beating very fast. He wondered if she could feel his heart beat as well and was hoping she didn't assume it was because he was turned on, which he slightly was.

Flynn and Rapunzel's faces were only a couple of inches a part and he so badly wanted to kiss her. Her pure green eyes staring up at him and her mouth partly open, exposing her slightly gaped teeth. She looked beautiful and the way she was looking at him almost seemed as though she were inviting him to take his chance, but it also looked as if she wished she could sink into the grass and get away from this close physical contact.

Flynn was just about to lean in and kiss her, but then decided against it. Based on his track record he wasn't sure that he would be able to stop once he started and he certainly didn't want to get more aroused and scare her with an erection pressed against her thigh. He lifted himself off of Rapunzel and sat down just to the right of her.

"Um, sorry." Flynn's apology was out of his mouth before he could even realize what he was saying. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to say he was sorry. He didn't want to scare her or make her uncomfortable, he was just messing around. His intentions had definitely not been sexual.

Rapunzel sat up and smiled at him, "No need to apologize."

There she goes again. Being completely amazing.

Flynn returned Rapunzel's smile and then looked off into the trees.

"So what did you want to do?"

Rapunzel shrugged and kept her eyes on Flynn, "I don't care. I thought we could just relax and enjoy the sun."

Flynn met her eyes once again and nodded. "Sounds perfect."

* * *

A couple of hours had passed and Flynn was beginning to feel a little tired from the sun shining down on him. Rapunzel and him were currently laying in the grass, with his head laying on her stomach and her hand gently running repeatedly through his hair.

Flynn closed his eyes and made a noise in his throat indicating how nice her hand felt in his hair.

This was the type of gesture that Flynn wasn't used to. Normally he just kissed, made out, some foreplay, had sex, and then fell asleep or split before things could progress. He had never cuddled with a girl before or let them have these small, gentle touches because they seemed more intimate then sex itself. Plus, based on how Rapunzel reacted to Flynn being on top of her earlier, she liked to take things slow, so this type of gesture was right up her alley.

Flynn continued to focus on the way Rapunzel's hand combed through his hair when he heard her sweet voice come to life.

"Flynn?"

"Hmmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Well, it's a little personal. I don't want to upset you or anything, but it's just that…I'm curious."

Flynn let out a deep breath and continued to keep his eyes closed. "Rapunzel, I'm sure whatever you want to ask won't upset me."

Flynn felt Rapunzel's stomach lift as she inhaled and then fall as she let out a quick sigh. "I was just wondering…how experienced are you when it comes to the physical aspect of a relationship?"

Flynn slowly opened his eyes and furrowed his brow. "You mean, how far have I gone with a girl? How many girls I've been physical with somehow? Or what exactly?"

Rapunzel sighed once again, "I guess both of those things. I mean, I just assumed the other day that you slept with both of those women based on the state that I saw you in, but I don't actually have any idea of what your track record looks like…I can't help but wonder."

Flynn smiled and then began to laugh. He then lifted his head off of Rapunzel's stomach and then rolled onto his own stomach, resting slightly on his elbows.

"Are you sure you really want to know?"

Rapunzel sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, giving Flynn a quick nod once their eyes met again.

Flynn sighed and looked at a patch of grass in front of him, trying to figure out what to say. He wasn't really the kind of person who liked to open up to others or share personal information, but how many women he had slept with wasn't that personal. She had a right to be curious. They were together now and Flynn wanted them to be together for a while, meaning this sort of information may be important.

"Well, you should know that I've gone all the way before and it wasn't with just one woman, but with multiple women. I have quite the history when it comes to this type of thing and let's just say that my number of women I've been….intimate with is quite high. It was always something that I was proud of, as sick as that sounds." Flynn let his eyes flicker over to Rapunzel in order to study her reaction, but she wasn't really giving him one. She looked completely calm, but there was a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

"How old were you when you first…did it?"

"Uh, you know, young."

Rapunzel must have picked up on his tone of voice and the fact that he didn't want to discuss it, because she didn't try to press him further.

"Why have you done it with so many women?"

"Whoa, whoa. Sorry, this whole personal information thing isn't really my forte. I would just rather not discuss the details, only the basics." Flynn was hoping that Rapunzel wouldn't be offended and was relieved when he saw her nod as if she understood.

"Those two women though, you did it with both of them?"

"Erm, yes."

"More than once?"

"One of them, yes. The other, no."

"I see," Rapunzel furrowed her brow and looked down at the earth in front of her. Flynn couldn't help but feel a little uneasy as she retreated into her thoughts. Did she think less of him now? Was she having second thoughts about her decision to be with him?

Suddenly, Rapunzel lifted her eyes back up to meet Flynn's and cleared her throat gently. "So, I'm just curious. Do you have a rough estimate of how many women you've slept with?"

Flynn felt a little taken back by her question. Why was she asking him that? Was she trying to trick him into telling her and then use the information to cause a fight right now? Flynn looked into Rapunzel's eyes and saw that same flame of curiosity though. He knew that she wasn't asking because she wanted to fight or anything like that, she was just curious.

Flynn began to rack his brain in order to come up with some sort of number for her. He hadn't really thought about the number of women he had slept with before, he just had sex and moved on without giving the last girl any last thought.

"I would say somewhere between thirty to forty. Maybe more. I'm not exactly sure."

Rapunzel pressed her lips together and nodded. Had she expected this number? Lower? Higher maybe?

"I see."

There it was. She was having second thoughts about all of this. How could a girl like Rapunzel possibly be with him after he had already slept with about forty women? He was sure that her list wasn't nearly as high.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I mean, it's just a number and as bad as it is to say this, none of those women meant anything to me."

Rapunzel let out a quick laugh which startled Flynn slightly. What was so funny? Flynn lifted a brow in confusion, signaling Rapunzel to explain herself.

"I'm sorry, it's just you really don't have to explain yourself. I'm not upset or jealous because you've slept with so many other women, I'm just a little…embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? Why would you be embarrassed?" Did she mean she was embarrassed for him because she found his high level of intimacy pathetic, or was it something else?

"Well, it's just, I'm not as experienced as you are in that area and if this…relationship does continue to grow and everything then I would assume that we would reach that level of intimacy that you shared with those women. Meaning I'll most likely make a fool out of myself because you have all of this knowledge and skill while I don't."

Now it was Flynn's turn to laugh. "Oh come on, Rapunzel. Do you think I actually care about that? I'm sure that you've had plenty of experience and when that time comes it won't be a problem." When that time comes. He made it sound like an actual event in their lives that would happen no matter what.

"No, Flynn. I don't think you understand. I have very little experience."

Flynn raised a brow at Rapunzel and just stared at her, signaling her to explain.

"Meaning, I have no experience at all."

No experience at all? Really? Someone as beautiful and amazing as Rapunzel had never slept with anyone before? Maybe there was even more she had not done then just sleeping with someone.

"No experience?" Holy hell, she's a virgin?

"No experience, Flynn. I hadn't even been kissed before until you kissed me in the meadow only a week ago."

Flynn couldn't help but feel a little triumphant when he heard this. Normally he tried to steer away from girls like this because he didn't want them to get clingy or anything, but he didn't feel that way with Rapunzel. He felt proud that he could share something so sacred with this girl that he was beginning to absolutely adore. He wanted to be here for her.

Flynn shrugged, "So what? You have to experience it at some point, right?" Flynn smiled at Rapunzel and gave her a quick wink. Rapunzel returned his smile and let out a small laugh.

"Right."

* * *

Rapunzel and Flynn made their way down the walkway through the main shops area. The sun was now setting and Flynn had offered that they take a relaxing stroll through the kingdom.

As they reached the crowd of people also hanging around the shops, Flynn couldn't help but notice how people seemed to act oddly when they noticed Rapunzel. Most people would see her and quickly move out of the way or some would smile at her and give her a quick nod. One little boy even ran up and handed her a yellow flower and then proceeded to give her a hug.

"People sure are friendly to you," Flynn stated once the little boy ran back to his mother. He let out a short laugh and smiled at her, wondering if she had noticed how other people reacted to her.

Rapunzel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously and shrugged, "Not really. They act that way toward everyone."

Flynn raised an eyebrow, "I don't see anyone running up to me and offering me any flowers."

Rapunzel shrugged once again and looked a little uncomfortable. Did she not like that sort of attention?

Flynn gently took her hand as they continued to walk. "Well, seeing how you're the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on, I don't blame him." He quickly stroked her knuckles with her thumb and gave her a smug smile. He had the most beautiful girl in the world all to himself.

Rapunzel gave him a shy smile and squeezed his hand before removing it from his. This made Flynn smile even more. Her reserved state in public was cute to him and he respected her desire to steer away from any public display of affection.

Flynn tore his eyes away from Rapunzel and began looking around for Brock's cart, hoping to score some free bread for them. They hadn't eaten since lunchtime and Flynn was sure that she was just as hungry as he was. However, Brock's cart was nowhere to be found, so he would have to find something else.

A fruit cart stood about fifteen feet to Flynn's right and he figured that it would be a nice compromise. He reached over to his side pouch in order to retrieve some of his coins, but found that it was empty and he had forgotten to bring anything with him.

Crap. What was he supposed to do now? Well, there was only one thing he could do. The one thing he was good at.

Flynn leaned over to Rapunzel a little, "I'll be right back." She responded by smiling and giving him a nod.

Flynn then made his way over to the cart and instead of stopping, continued to walk by but managed to grab two apples as he did. He then made a sly u turn and walked back to meet Rapunzel again, who had moved off to the side by the jewelry carts in order to listen to the violin players.

"I got us a snack," Flynn said as he reached her and handed her an apple, giving her a triumphant smile.

Rapunzel studied the apple for a moment and looked a little skeptical. She then shifted her eyes from the apple to Flynn and frowned, "Did you steal this?"

Flynn's smile faded a little, "What?"

"Did you steal these apples?"

"Wha- what? Why?"

"Flynn, you can't steal things. It's not right," Rapunzel tried to sound big and scary, but there was still a sweetness to her tone that Flynn couldn't but laugh at.

"Oh, come on, Rapunzel. It's an apple," Flynn then took a bite into his apple and shrugged, showing that it was no big deal.

"Whether it's an apple or the world's most expensive diamond, stealing is wrong." Rapunzel shook her head and then pointed a finger at Flynn. "I mean it. No more stealing."

Flynn sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine. No more stealing."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Rapunzel lowered her finger from Flynn's chest and attempted to give him a stern look. "Good." She then took a bite of her apple and smiled, acting as though her whole lecture never even happened.

They continued to eat their apples as they listened to the violins and saw a few people from the surrounding crowd enter the middle of the shopping square and dance around a little. The people mainly consisted of little kids who were just spinning around in circles and lacking any sort of rhythm.

Rapunzel finished her apple just as the violins began to play a more upbeat song, bringing in some drums, and even a flute. She turned to toss the apple in the trashcan behind her and then quickly turned back to Flynn.

"Come on, let's go dance!" She had a huge smile spread across her face and appeared as though she really wanted to go dance.

"Hah, I don't think so. Dancing isn't exactly my thing."

"Too cool to dance, Mr. Rider?"

Flynn laughed and shook his head, "Maybe."

"Well, your loss. I'm going to dance."

Rapunzel smiled as she backed away from him into the center along with the children and began to twirl. She then made her way to different corners of the crowd and grabbed a few strangers, bringing them to the center to come and dance with her.

Flynn couldn't help but smile as he watched her spin and laugh with some of the strangers, noting that they all seemed perfectly fine with the fact that this random girl had just grabbed their arm and brought them into her dance.

Screw it.

Flynn then made his way into the center and grabbed Rapunzel's hand and pulled her to him. She smiled as he began to dance with her and move her around the crowd, spinning and dipping her here and there.

When the song finally ended, Rapunzel and Flynn were both laughing and standing too close to be classified as friends. Flynn could see people staring at them from the corner of his eye and decided to back away from her a little, knowing that she wouldn't like people seeing them that way.

Rapunzel smiled at Flynn, "Shall we go to the lake?"

Flynn gave her a shy smile back. The first shy smile he had probably ever worn since he was a young boy in his orphanage. "Sure."

Rapunzel then turned in the direction of the lake, "Race you!" She gave him a quick wink as she took off down the walkway, her bare feet thumping against the stone.

Flynn laughed and began running behind her, dodging a few people here and there. He decided to keep his distance behind Rapunzel in order to give her the triumphant feeling of beating him, unlike earlier that day in the meadow.

Once the lake finally came into view, Flynn could see Rapunzel grab the sides of her lavender dress as she made her way down the stairs to the dock. He then began to run faster in order to meet up with her, but right before he reached the stairs someone blocked his path. Flynn slowed down quickly and almost crashed into the woman in front of him.

"Whoa," he said when he finally stopped himself and actually looked at whom it was standing in front of him. The woman had looked as if she had a reason to stand in front of him, and she probably believed she did because the woman just so happened to be Clarissa.

Flynn's smile disappeared from his face completely, "What do you want now?" His voice sounded flat and cold, and he was hoping that she would get the message. However, knowing Clarissa, she wouldn't.

Clarissa folded her arms over her chest, "I've been looking for you."

"Looking for me or waiting for hours down by the lake knowing that I would most likely come down here eventually?"

Clarissa rolled her eyes, "What difference does it make?"

Flynn let out a hard laugh, "That's a little low for someone like you. Don't you think, Clarissa?" He knew that she had most likely been waiting around the lake all day, just waiting for him to show up. He had never really taken her as the obsessive and stalker type, but here she was.

"Stop being such an asshole. The whole 'hard to get' thing is getting old, Flynn."

"What?" Flynn raised an eyebrow at her. "Hard to get? Please, I just want you to get away from me. Completely." Flynn made a few hand gestures, pointing his hands to his left to stand for himself and then bringing them to his right to stand for Clarissa.

"I don't give up that easily."

Flynn could feel his blood begin to boil. "I don't fucking care, Clarissa! You're never going to win anything here, so just get the hell out of my life!"

"Flynn?"

Flynn suddenly heard Rapunzel's sweet voice, and looked around Clarissa to see her standing at the top of the stairs. She looked concerned and her eyes shifted from Flynn to the back of Clarissa's head to Flynn again.

"Is everything okay?"

Clarissa snapped her head around to look at Rapunzel and Flynn could see her eyes narrow slightly.

"Everything's fine. I'll be right there."

Rapunzel continued to stand there for a moment and looked a little uncertain. Flynn wondered how much of their conversation she had actually heard and wondered if she thought Flynn's situation was more serious than he was letting off.

Clarissa then let out an exaggerated sigh, "He said everything is fine. Now run the fuck along." She began to shoo Rapunzel with her hand and gave her an annoyed look.

Now she had done it. Flynn thought she had already crossed the line with all of the hope she voiced about them being together and him loving her, but now she had gone to a place of no return.

"Don't talk to her that way," Flynn said through his teeth, surprising himself with just how angry he sounded.

Clarissa then turned her head to look at Flynn and seemed a little taken back. Flynn could slightly make out Rapunzel behind her, noticing that her eyes seemed widened in surprise as well.

"Oh please-"

"Shut up," Clarissa immediately stopped talking and became wide eyed just like Rapunzel. "You don't talk to her that way. Ever. You don't act that way toward her. Ever. Understand?"

Clarissa didn't say anything and Flynn took another step toward her, pointing a finger her face just as Rapunzel had done to him earlier, but he was way more intimidating then she had been. He could feel his muscles growing more and more tense as he stood in front of Clarissa. He couldn't remember ever being this mad about something and it was a bit alarming. He was more serious about Rapunzel then he had realized.

"I said, do you understand?"

"Yes." Clarissa's voice sounded small and she quickly looked away from him, tears coating her eyes. She was obviously hurt, but Flynn didn't care. As harsh as it was, she was nothing to him and he couldn't care less how she felt at the moment. He only cared how Rapunzel felt.

Flynn brought his hand back to his side and without a single word, walked around Clarissa to Rapunzel. Once he reached Rapunzel, he took her hand and led them down the stairs to the dock, feeling Clarissa's eyes burn into the back of his head.

* * *

"I'm really sorry about that."

"Oh, it's fine."

Rapunzel and Flynn were currently seated at the end of the dock. Both had their legs hanging off the edge and they were clutching the end of the dock with their hands. Flynn rolled his shoulders in order to take some of the stress and intensity away, but it didn't seem to help. Clarissa had certainly hit a nerve and Flynn felt bad that Rapunzel had to witness the two of them basically going at each other's throats. He was hoping that Clarissa would get the hint from the last time they talked and just leave him alone, but it seemed as though that was too good to be true. He was sure that this encounter wasn't their last either.

"That's one of the girls you slept with, isn't it?"

Flynn nodded, "Yes."

"I recognized her. She was one of the girls you brought home when I saw you…she was the girl I saw you with the first time I saw you…" Rapunzel looked out across the lake as if she were watching the memories in the water.

"Yeah, that's her." Flynn sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Rapunzel, I just want you to know that she doesn't mean anything to me. She's relentless and I've told her multiple times that I don't want anything to do with her anymore, but she has it in her head that I'm in love with her or something." Flynn removed her hand from his nose and opened his eyes, looking down at his legs.

"Did you tell her that you were in love with her?"

Flynn furrowed his brow and looked over at Rapunzel. "No, I've never told anyone that I was in love with them…or that I even loved them for that matter."

Rapunzel looked over at Flynn and kept her expression serious, "Even your parents?"

Flynn pressed his lips into a line and remained expressionless. He wasn't willing to talk about his past. About the fact that he never even knew his parents and never had a real family. Being on his own was the only thing he had ever really known, as well as thieving.

Rapunzel turned her attention back to the river and shrugged, "Well, then I guess the only thing we can do is run away and start fresh somewhere new." A small smile spread across her lips and she looked as though she almost enjoyed the idea.

Flynn couldn't help but let out a small laugh and smile at the idea as well. "I would love to."

Rapunzel turned her head and looked as Flynn once again, her smile growing wider.

Flynn smiled back at her and then leaned forward, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Let's go roam with the kangaroos."


	9. Chapter 9: Breaking A Promise

"She just won't leave me alone, Hook. It's seriously getting old and pretty soon I'm going to have to shave my head or grow a beard in order to hide myself from her." Flynn dragged a hand through his hair and shrugged, "You would think that when you tell a girl you don't want anything to do with her that she would get the point."

Flynn shook his head and slouched his shoulders a little. It was only seven in the morning and he had just finished his early morning shift in order to help with inventory. Rapunzel had told Flynn that she had some painting classes to attend to for most of the day and would meet him in front of the clock at six, so Flynn decided to wait around at the Snuggly Duckling in order to pass the time.

"I don't know what to tell you, Rider. You've gotten yourself in deep there, but I'm sure eventually she'll some around and realize that it's over. I mean, she saw Rapunzel and everything so that should open her eyes a little bit." Hook shrugged, "Or maybe not."

Flynn sighed, "Whatever. I just want her to stay away from Rapunzel."

Hook laughed, "You are seriously head over heels for this broad."

Flynn narrowed his eyes, "Hey, don't call her that." His tone was completely serious, but Hook seemed unbothered. "I'm not 'head over heels,' Hook. I just like her and I don't want Clarissa to jeopardize that and scare her away or something."

Flynn frowned. He knew that Rapunzel wasn't that kind of girl and wouldn't turn away from him just because Clarissa got in her face, but he just didn't want to lose her. She was one of a kind.

"Okay, maybe head over heels is a little too far, but I can tell that you like this girl a lot. It's just strange."

Flynn let out a short laugh, "Trust me, I know."

Just then the door to the Snuggly Duckling opened behind Flynn and he turned to see who it was. Whoever was coming in was still masked by the door and Flynn heard Hook's voice from behind him.

"Excuse me, we don't open until 11."

Flynn watched as a large man with red hair walked into the pub and looked around, then another man who looked like the first man's twin followed behind him. Flynn gulped and tried to keep his eyes from widening in alarm.

These were the Stabbington brothers, the two men Flynn had been traveling and thieving with for months before he up and left them with their last greatest find. Needless to say, they hadn't exactly left things on good terms and he was sure their reunion would be anything but friendly.

The first brother looked over at Flynn and immediately an evil grin spread across his face. "Hello, Rider."

Flynn remained calm and collected as the brothers made their way over to him and stood in front of his stool. "Hello boys." He flashed them a cocky smile as if their presence didn't phase him whatsoever. "You lost?"

The brothers laughed and looked at one another. "Actually, we've been looking for you. Heard you were here in Corona and decided to pay you a little visit," the first brother spoke.

Flynn scoffed, "Please, I know that this isn't supposed to be some sort of friendly visit from two old pals. What are you really here for?" Flynn leaned his back against the bar and crossed his arms.

"Well, seeing as we haven't seen you since you left us to get captured in Roadia, while you ran off with the goods, we felt as through you owed us a little something."

Flynn raised an eyebrow, "Me? Owe _you_ something? Yeah right." He was about to turn away from them and back to Hook when the second brother grabbed his arm firmly.

"I don't think you understand, Rider," the first brother spoke again. "Either you do this for us or we go out back and you pay a different price." He then reached over to the sword that was strapped to his belt and tapped his fingers against it a few times.

Flynn eyed the sword and then looked back up to the brothers. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"That's more like it."

The first brother nodded to his brother, signaling for him to let go of Flynn's arm. He then looked up at Hook who was still standing behind the counter. "Would you mind giving us a few minutes?"

Hook shrugged, set his rag on the bar, and walked towards the backroom. "Holler if you need me, Rider," then he was gone.

Flynn looked at the brothers, "Well?"

"Right," the first brother pulled a piece of paper out of his belt and unrolled it to show Flynn the picture on it. It was of a crown and looked like one that belonged to a princess rather than a king or queen. "This is the crown that belongs to the princess of Corona, however, she doesn't like to wear it unless there is a special ceremony or something."

"And?"

"And it's currently sitting in the castle, guarded by some of the kings men in some grand room. We figured out a way to get in though, but we need someone much smaller for the job. That's where you come in."

"So, you want me to sneak into this grand room, steal the crown, and bring it back to you?"

The brothers nodded together.

The first brother spoke again, "There's an open space in the ceiling right above where the crown is. We want to lower you from that open space, you grab the crown, and then we'll lift you back up. You have to go unnoticed though and we've already figured out that the guards only look the opposite direction. They'll never see you coming."

"Then once you lift me back up I'll just hand you the crown and you'll make your escape?"

The brothers looked at one another.

"Well, no. We figured that it may be best if you held on to the crown for a couple of days. If we just take it and make off with it right there and then someone would notice two men, who they have never seen before, running through the kingdom and surely follow us. So the best thing to do is play it cool for a couple of days. You're basically a local here so if you hold onto it, you won't look suspicious. Get it?"

Flynn nodded and then looked down at the floor. He furrowed his brow as he went over the plan in his head. It seemed simple and as though they could definitely pull it off, but Flynn had made a promise to Rapunzel that he wouldn't steal anymore. That apple had represented the last time he would ever take anything and now he was going to have to break his promise to Rapunzel. It was either he broke his promise or he agreed to let the brothers take him behind the Snuggly Duckling and kill him.

Flynn looked back up and held out his hand to the brothers, "You have yourself a deal."

* * *

Flynn tightened the rope around his waist and gave it one last tug.

"Alright, Rider. It's very important that you go completely unnoticed. It's either you go unnoticed or we drop you and you fend for yourself."

Flynn waved his hand in the air, "Yeah, yeah. I got it."

The brothers nodded and exchanged a look. Flynn felt a stab of regret in his stomach as he saw them look at each other. Maybe there was no crown and the brothers were really just going to get back at him by framing him. Flynn shook his head and cleared the thought from his mind. There had to be a crown.

Flynn positioned himself at the opening in the ceiling and looked down. Sure enough there was the same crown he had seen in the picture the brothers had shown sitting right below him. Flynn relaxed a little and turned around to give the brothers a thumbs up, indicating that he was going down. The brothers returned his thumbs up and began lowering him into the room.

Halfway down Flynn was sure that one of the guards would turn around and see him or the king would walk through the huge doors to check up on the crown, but nothing happened. It was as if Flynn was a tiny spider that was going completely unnoticed.

After a few more moments, Flynn was only about a foot above the crown and he slowly reached down and picked it up. He slid it into his satchel quickly and gave the brothers a thumbs up to start lifting him back up.

On his ride back up, still none of the guards noticed him and Flynn could feel a smile spread across his face. The adrenaline he normally felt from thieving was now filling his body and he remembered why he had loved it so much. Succeeding at it only made it better.

When Flynn was finally back on the roof of the castle, the brothers gave him a pat on the back and replaced the tile back in the open space.

"Good job, Rider. Make sure you take good care of that thing. We'll be collecting it from you in the next couple of days. Now let's get down from here before someone spots us."

* * *

Flynn reached the clock by Rapunzel's classes just as it began to chime, indicating that it was now six o'clock. The princess' crown still sat in his satchel, reminding Flynn of the morning's events. He felt like a child with a large back of candy in his pocket, because that's exactly how thieving had always made him feel.

Flynn leaned against the wall of the clock tower and watched the crowd, waiting to see a lavender dress, wavy brown hair, and big green eyes come into view. Soon enough, they did.

Rapunzel emerged from the crowd, but Flynn could instantly tell that something was wrong. Her arms were crossed over her chest and instead of being her normal bouncy and smiley self she seemed reserved.

When she reached Flynn she gave him a weak smile. "Hello."

Flynn furrowed his brow, "Hey. Everything okay?"

Rapunzel shrugged and looked down.

Flynn felt his face get hot as he remembered the scene between him and Clarissa yesterday. Had Clarissa found her and verbally lashed out at her or something? He certainly hoped not or else he knew how he would be spending his afternoon.

"What's wrong?"

Rapunzel frowned and shrugged once again. "It's nothing really."

"Well then tell me." Flynn took a step toward her and searched her eyes. "Please."

Rapunzel bit her lip gently, "Someone stole something very important of mine this morning and I don't think I'll be able to get it back." She looked down once again, looking as though she were disappointed in herself.

"What did they take?"

Rapunzel shrugged, "Does it matter? I just don't know why someone thinks they're entitled to take something of mine as if it really should belong to them. It was just something that means a lot to me and my family and now it's gone." Rapunzel sighed, "I just don't understand why people feel the need to steal."

Flynn furrowed his brow and looked down at his feet. How could he console Rapunzel when he had just stolen one of the most expensive and important items that belonged to the very kingdom that they lived in? He was a million times worse than whomever it was that she was currently talking about. Flynn suddenly felt a little guilty about breaking his promise to Rapunzel, that he had only just made yesterday, and stealing the princess' crown for the Stabbington brothers.

"Well," Flynn finally found his voice, "I guess all you can do is notify the authorities and hope that something comes up. It's worth a shot, right?" Although he was sure that the authorities were more concerned about their princess' missing crown.

Rapunzel met Flynn's eyes and nodded, "You're right. It's not the end of the world, I guess."

Flynn nodded and placed a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder, rubbing it gently with his thumb. "It's going to be alright. Trust me."

Rapunzel smiled at him and she suddenly turned back into her normal self, "I trust you."

Flynn wanted to punch himself. She shouldn't trust him. He had broken his promise. "Good. Now what you need is a day full of some nice relaxation."

Just then about ten guards ran by with their hands on their swords, looking as if something major had just occurred. Flynn instantly knew that the commotion was about the crown and he no longer felt safe standing in such a public area with that same crown in his satchel.

"Hey…what do you say we just go back to my place and hang out? It beats walking around the kingdom all day and we can just be alone." Flynn was hoping that she wouldn't think he had certain intentions for them back at his place, especially after their talk yesterday about his sex life.

Rapunzel looked into Flynn's eyes as if she would find her answer there. She looked a little unsure, but sure enough she accepted Flynn's offer and gave him a small smile.

"Alone time would be nice."

* * *

Flynn unlocked the door to his place and held it open for Rapunzel.

"After you, my good lady."

Rapunzel giggled and gave him a nod, "Why thank you." She made her way into his place and began to look around at all of the meaningless objects that were placed around the room.

"Feel free to put your bag wherever you want," Flynn said as he closed the door and locked it once again. He didn't want someone like Clarissa just barging in. He then gently hung his satchel next to the door, thinking about how the brothers had warned him that he needed to keep the satchel close to him at all times so it didn't fall into the wrong hands. He doubted that Rapunzel would sneak over to his bag and take the crown for herself though. That certainly wasn't her style.

Rapunzel placed her bag on the ground next to Flynn's wardrobe and continued to walk around his place, studying every object on his shelves and the very few paintings hung on his wall, including the one that she had given him not so long ago. She smiled once she saw her painting hanging next to window.

"I'm flattered that you actually decided to put that up," Rapunzel stood directly in front of the painting and crossed her arms, her back completely to Flynn.

"Of course I hung it up. I really like that painting." Flynn sat himself down on his bed and felt relief flood through his body. The rope had really worn into him when he had been lowered and raised in the castle earlier that day, so relaxation was needed at this point. He could hear suddenly hear yelling and feet pounding against the stone walkway just outside his window. Another stab of guilt stirred in his stomach. The guards were definitely at a loss.

Rapunzel turned around and noticed Flynn sitting on the bed. Flynn knew from the look on her face that she was wondering what exactly their alone time was going to consist of. Flynn hoped that by sitting on his bed that he wasn't giving her the wrong message.

"So," Rapunzel kept her arms crossed and walked toward the other side of the room. "What should we do?"

Flynn shrugged and then laid back on his pillows with his hands behind his head, "Whatever you want. I'm up for anything."

He could practically see her gulp as he said the word anything. She had no reason to be nervous. His intentions were pure for the first time in his life.

Flynn leaned forward so that he was sitting once again and cleared his throat, "Rapunzel, I just want you to know that I didn't invite you back here so I could try and take advantage of you. I respect you too much and I would never do that. So you don't have to feel uneasy or anything because I'm not going to try anything."

Rapunzel stopped walking and turned to look at Flynn.

He smiled and put his hand on his chest, "Scouts' honor."

This made Rapunzel smile and she even let out a small giggle. She walked over and sat at the end of Flynn's bed. "I know that you wouldn't pull anything. I guess I just let myself get worked up over nothing. I'm just not the type of girl who does stuff like…this."

Flynn laughed, "I know you're not. I'm not pressuring you to do anything like that either. I want this to be different."

Rapunzel's smile grew and she scooted a little closer to Flynn, "Me too. Well for you anyway."

"You really haven't had any experience with any guys before?"

Rapunzel shook her head, "Nope."

"I find that hard to believe. I would expect a beautiful girl like you to have countless guys running after her." Flynn gave her a smug smile.

Rapunzel just shrugged, "My childhood was a little…complicated."

Flynn cocked his head to the side. Isn't everyone's childhood complicated? "Why do you say that?"

Rapunzel reached back and began to play with her hair a little. "Reasons."

"Reasons?"

Rapunzel shrugged once again. Flynn knew he wasn't going to get anything out of her which was a little frustrating, but he knew that if she shared information about herself that he would probably have to do the same. So maybe it was better that she was deciding to be closed off as well.

"You know, these are things that we might have to discuss at some point," Flynn laughed.

"True…or we could just act like none of it ever happened and just move forward from here. That's always an option."

"It is, but it's not exactly practical."

"I guess."

Flynn looked around the room in order to find something to change the subject. His eyes found Rapunzel's bag and he noticed a couple of her paintings sticking out of it.

"Can I see some of your paintings?"

Rapunzel followed Flynn's eyes and looked at her bag. "Sure!" She suddenly leapt up from her spot on the bed and grabbed her bag, pulling out her paintings.

She then rejoined Flynn on his bed and handed him her paintings. He began to look through them and felt an uncontrollable smile spread across his face. She was a very talented painter. Very talented was an understatement. She was phenomenal.

Flynn studied each painting carefully and then moved onto the next one. Each painting looked as if it could actually be real. There was one of the lake, the meadow, some little kids playing in a fountain, a close up of a yellow flower, which Flynn realized was the same flower the little boy had given her. They were all so breath taking. Flynn never really had any respect for art before he saw what Rapunzel could do.

Then there was the last painting, which was on slightly larger paper than the others. Flynn was surprised to find that it was an exact replica of the painting he had seen close to Rapunzel's art classes. It was a painting of a sun with beautiful purple vines surrounding it. Flynn could still see the other painting on the wall of the building and determined that this one matched the other perfectly.

"Hey, this is the same painting on the wall outside of the art classes." Flynn smiled and looked over at Rapunzel who suddenly looked uneasy.

"Some lady told me that the princess did that painting. Did you study it and then just repaint it?" Flynn continued to look at Rapunzel and watched as she pursed her lips and nodded.

"Sure."

Flynn turned his attention back to the painting in his hands.

"You sure did a good job. This looks exactly like it."

"Thank you."

Flynn smiled over at her and noticed that her responding smile seemed a little too soft. He placed the painting in his lap and reached over to Rapunzel, tucking some hair behind her ear. This time she didn't seem to be so resistant to his touch like she had been at the lake when he had touched her hair.

"You're an amazing painter, Rapunzel."

"Thank you."

Rapunzel suddenly yawned and before Flynn could even think about what he was saying, the words slipped out of his mouth.

"Do you want to go to bed?"

Rapunzel's eyes widened a little, "Uh…"

Flynn shook his head and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. Uh…old habit." Flynn opened his eyes, but focused them on his hands. "I just noticed that you seemed tired and it was sort of an instinct to ask you if you wanted to sleep. I didn't mean to freak you out."

"Yes."

Flynn's eyes lifted from his hands back up to meet Rapunzel's. "What?"

Rapunzel smiled and lifted her shoulders, "I would like to go to bed…with you." She dropped her shoulders back down as if she had just dropped off a huge load of stress.

"Really?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes." She then lifted her finger up to him again like she had done the day before, still failing to be intimidating. "But no funny business."

Flynn chuckled, "Don't worry. I wouldn't even think about it."

Rapunzel smiled and then began scooting up toward the pillows. She lifted Flynn's blanket enough for her to slip herself underneath it and then nuzzled her head against one of his pillows.

Flynn couldn't help but smile. He had pictured Rapunzel in his bed many times, but never like this. He usually pictured her naked and him on top of her, but he decided that seeing her completely cozy and smiling was even better…well in a way.

Flynn got up and took his boots off as well as his vest. When Rapunzel began to eye him he smiled. "The buckles are uncomfortable to sleep on." He then turned off the three lanterns that lit his room and joined Rapunzel in his bed.

He wasn't quite sure how close she would allow him to get so he decided it was better to let her make the next move. He was soon surprised when he felt Rapunzel scoot close to him and rest her head on his chest. Flynn could smell the sweet scent of her hair and skin, which made him smile. He could definitely get used to this.

Flynn wrapped his arms around Rapunzel, bringing her even closer to him. He gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure that no one will be worried about you?"

"No, I'll be fine. Everyone knows that I won't be back tonight."

Flynn nodded and soon began to drift off to sleep, feeling Rapunzel's heart beat against his body and the warm feeling of her skin. This was a first for both of them and it made Flynn smile. This girl was definitely changing him for what seemed like the better. He felt like a better person with her and she made him want to be a better person.

But then again, there was a stolen crown currently sitting in his satchel. Proof of a broken promise and the ultimate crime.


	10. Chapter 10: The Lost Princess

Flynn furrowed his brow and slowly opened his eyes to only be nearly blinded by the sun coming through his window. He began to squint and became slightly annoyed, but then he felt a gentle nuzzle against his chest, which completely interrupted his thoughts.

Rapunzel was still lying against him with his arms wrapped around her just as they had fallen asleep. It was as if they hadn't moved at all while they had been sleeping.

Flynn smiled to himself and looked down to see the top of Rapunzel's head, admiring her silky brown waves. He slowly lifted one of his arms from Rapunzel's body and began to delicately comb it through some of her hair. It felt so soft against his rough skin and he suddenly dreamt of a life where he could touch Rapunzel's hair whenever he wanted. A life where he could be with Rapunzel _forever._

Suddenly, Rapunzel stirred and Flynn watched as she blinked her eyes and looked around as if she were slightly bewildered. She then slowly raised her head off of Flynn's chest, making her hair slip away from his fingers and his other arm slide away from her waist. She blinked a couple of times and then looked at Flynn as she held herself up with her left arm. Rapunzel looked as if she finally remembered where she was as she met Flynn's eyes and instantly smiled. Her confused state seemed to completely disappear and now she was her normal bubbly self.

"Good morning, beautiful," Flynn let a wide grin spread across his face as he stared into her full green eyes, studying the freckles on her nose that were accentuated from the sun coming through the window.

Rapunzel's smile seemed to grow even more, "Good morning. How long have you been awake?"

"Not long. Only a few minutes before you."

Rapunzel nodded and laid down next to Flynn so that her head was on the pillow next to his and they were only about three inches away from one another.

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yes, thank you. I think that's the best sleep I've gotten in a long time."

Flynn smiled, "Yeah, me too." There was sincerity in his voice and his tone seemed so soft and caring.

Rapunzel nuzzled her head into her pillow and closed her eyes. "Well, what do you want to do?"

Flynn knew that he should be focusing on Rapunzel's question, but he was too busy admiring all of Rapunzel's beautiful features. Her freckles were still very apparent, her lips looked soft and the perfect shade of pink, her skin seemed to shine all on it's own and it was all just so mesmerizing. He almost wished she would part her lips slightly so he could see her slightly gaped teeth, or maybe even open her eyes so he could see those beautiful green eyes. Those green eyes that had him over the moon. However, Flynn was enjoying the fact that her eyes were closed. It was as if she were completely vulnerable with him now and he could just take his time to notice the small details about her features that he hadn't noticed before.

Rapunzel continued to keep her eyes closed and Flynn could feel his mind going a hundred miles a second. He really liked this girl. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but she also had a personality and a way of living that was just so intoxicating to him. Normally he didn't care about getting to know a girl and just cared about their physicality, but Rapunzel had ended that now. If him and Rapunzel were to ever break this off would he be able to do the same for another girl? Did Rapunzel change something in him? Or was she just the only girl who he was willing to be different for?

While Rapunzel still had her eyes closed, Flynn leaned closer to her and broke the three-inch barrier between them, pressing his lips into hers. Flynn had closed his eyes so he wasn't sure how she was reacting to the fact that he was currently kissing her in his bed, but he assumed she was a little taken back by it.

Flynn pulled away from Rapunzel and opened his eyes only to find her staring back at him. Her mouth was slightly open as if she were shocked or had something to say, but still she said nothing. Should he say something? Should he apologize? He didn't feel sorry at all for kissing her. He loved kissing her.

Flynn felt like apologizing was the right thing to do though due to Rapunzel's current reaction. He opened his mouth to say those two words, when he all of a sudden felt Rapunzel's soft hand on the back of his neck and he was being pulled toward her.

Their lips met once again and Flynn could feel himself smiling through the kiss, completely surprised, yet overjoyed, that Rapunzel had done something so bold. He could feel himself instantly get excited as Rapunzel and him continued kissing and her hand remained on the back of his neck, giving gentle little tugs here and there. For never kissing a guy before Flynn came around, she sure was good at what she was doing. Flynn wrapped his left arm around Rapunzel's waist and slid her to him until their bodies were pressed together. He was glad to find that she didn't push away from him or break off their kiss, but continued to kiss him just as forcefully.

Then it happened. Flynn's instincts began to kick in and he suddenly rolled Rapunzel onto her back and brought himself on top of her. Seeing as she continued to kiss him as he did this he didn't even notice anything wrong, so he continued to go even further with her. Flynn already had a pretty decent hard on which he then pressed into Rapunzel, only four layers of fabric separating them. He grinded himself into her and let out a small groan.

Flynn then felt Rapunzel pull her lips away from his, making him open his eyes. Her eyes were also open, completely wide open. She almost looked horrified, but there was still a hint of normal curiosity there as well. Flynn suddenly felt horrified as well. He was so caught up in the moment that he hadn't even thought about what he was doing or the fact that the girl he was doing it with was extremely inexperienced. He respected Rapunzel more than this and he was certainly doing a shitty job of showing it.

Flynn shook his head and moved off of Rapunzel, sitting up so that his back was to Rapunzel. He then rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. "Shit, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Flynn, it's fine..." Rapunzel's voice sounded sincere and sweet as if she completely understood, but that only made Flynn feel worse. She was so innocent and he was…corrupted in so many ways.

"No, it's not. I-I got carried away and I took advantage of the moment. It wasn't okay and I'm sorry." Flynn knew that if Rapunzel hadn't stopped kissing him and pulled away that he most likely wouldn't have stopped. He was still surprised that he didn't try to push Rapunzel into continuing even after she pulled away, but was relieved that he still had some kind of control. He felt awful though. Rapunzel had never even kissed a guy about a week ago and now she had kissed, made out, felt a hard on pressed against her, been grinded against. The list was growing and Flynn felt extremely guilty. He didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to do or wasn't ready for, and he was sure she wasn't ready to feel his erection pressed against her and him groaning at how good she felt against him. Oh how many times he had dreamt about that moment.

Flynn shook his head and slumped his shoulders. Why couldn't he just control himself for once?

Flynn felt the bed shift a little and then felt Rapunzel's hands gently wrap around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. He looked at her and noticed that she looked really concerned. Was she really not as freaked out or upset about what he had just done as he thought?

"Hey, it's alright. It's not your fault. I started all that funny business anyway so I should really be the one at fault here. I know you have different experience when it comes to women and I don't blame you for getting carried away, Flynn. I know it's quite the change to go from what you're used to…to me."

Rapunzel smiled and placed a hand on the side of Flynn's face, "Just stop beating yourself up about something so little. Everything is okay. I promise. "

Flynn wanted to kick himself for getting so mad at himself in the first place. Of course she would understand. That was just the kind of girl that she way. She was the most amazing girl that Flynn had ever met in his entire life and he really couldn't understand why a girl like Rapunzel would give him the time of day. Sure he had his looks and charm, but when it came to actual personality and what counted in the long run, he felt like Rapunzel was way above him.

"Okay," Flynn nodded.

Rapunzel then leaned in and gave him a gentle and quick kiss. "Good."

Her eyes then shifted from Flynn's to his bedside table and she suddenly jumped up from the bed.

"Oh no! I'm late!"

Flynn looked over to his table and realized that Rapunzel had been looking at his clock. He turned back to find Rapunzel resituating her paintings in her bag, placing it on her shoulder, and then rapidly trying to comb through her hair with her fingers.

Flynn began to laugh and shake his head at her. "What's the rush?"

Rapunzel continued to comb through her hair, "I have a…class. A very important class that I can't miss and I'm late. I have to go."

Flynn laughed once again and got up from his bed, quickly putting on his vest and slipping on his boots. "

"I'll walk you out."

* * *

Once Rapunzel and Flynn were on the stone walkway just outside of Flynn's place they quickly hugged one another, skipping the goodbye kiss due to two men walking by who were eyeing them.

"Want to meet at the bridge at around seven tonight?" Flynn asked as they pulled away from one another.

"Sure. I'll be there! I have to go. I'll see at seven!" Rapunzel gave him a wide smile and then quickly made her way down the walkway, her bare feet smacking after every step.

* * *

Flynn stood outside of the Snuggly Duckling, sweeping up a shattered beer bottle that a random drunk had smashed the night before when he was attempting to use it as a weapon.

Hook and him were currently the only ones at the Snuggly Duckling and they were both plenty busy. Even though it was five in the evening and they didn't have a single customer, Flynn and Hook were still hard at work. Flynn was in charge of cleaning up any outside messes at the moment, while Hook was looking over some of the paper work they had put off. They were managing to get a lot done due to the slow business, but Flynn almost wished they had some customers so he could get out of cleaning. Where was everyone anyway?

Just then Flynn heard a twig snap in the trees to the left of him and squinted in order to see if he could make out anything. He didn't want to get ambushed by any angry customers or the Stabbington brothers for that matter. The crown was still safe and sound in his satchel that was currently still hanging on his shoulder, so they really didn't have any reason to plan some sort of attack on him. It wasn't like he had any plans to keep the crown for himself. The sooner he got rid of it, the better.

Flynn felt his back instantly tense as Clarissa emerged from the trees and slowly made her way over to him, keeping her eyes locked on his the whole time.

"Hi, Flynn."

Flynn gripped the broom in his hands tightly and felt his face grow a little warm. He didn't say anything. He didn't want to talk to Clarissa. He didn't even want to see her. Why couldn't she just leave him alone?

Clarissa closed the distance between them until she was standing right in front of him, looking innocently into his eyes.

"I missed you."

"Clarissa," Flynn said through clenched teeth, "Don't."

"What? I did miss you. Am I not allowed to state how I feel?"

Flynn scoffed, "Yes, exactly. I don't want to know how you feel. I don't care how you feel, okay?"

Flynn expected for Clarissa to slap him, but instead she just continued to look at him with a sweet expression. "You don't mean that."

"What?"

"I don't think you mean that. I think you do care. You're just acting like you don't because of _her_."

Flynn knew Clarissa was referring to Rapunzel and felt himself tense even further. "Don't you dare bring her into this."

"Why not? She obviously plays an important role in whatever is happening here. That little whore stole my boyfriend away from me. Sorry if that makes me bitter."

Flynn threw the broom in his hands to ground, causing the handle to snap in half on impact. He took a step closer to Clarissa so he was almost in her face.

"Don't ever call her that. She's not a whore. You are. You're a fucking whore and a bitch."

Clarissa crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Really, Flynn? I'm a whore? Take a look in the fucking mirror."

"Whatever," Flynn needed to get away from Clarissa as soon as possible and decided that he could take care of his mess some other time. He turned around and made his way toward the door to the pub, clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"What are you doing running around with the princess anyway?" Clarissa called from behind Flynn, causing him to stop in his tracks.

Flynn slowly turned around to face her and lifted a brow in confusion, "What?"

Clarissa rolled her eyes once again and looked extremely impatient suddenly, "You know, the princess? The daughter of the king and queen. The girl who is potentially going to be our queen someday? The princess of Corona!"

Flynn furrowed his brow and looked down at the ground. "Princess?" Clarissa had to be full of shit, right? How could she make this up though?

Clarissa shook her head and smirked, "Oh come on, Rider. Don't tell me that you had no idea that she was the princess of Corona!" She let out a bitchy laugh and looked at him in disbelief.

"Shut up," Flynn turned back around and walked through the door of the Snuggly Duckling, feeling his head swarming with endless thoughts. Was Rapunzel really the princess of Corona? She couldn't be. Flynn would have noticed. This was just Clarissa's way of getting to him…right?

Hook then walked out of the back room and grinned at Flynn. "Rider! I just finished sorting through those files and took care of any put off business. Did you get everything cleaned up outside?"

Flynn looked up to meet Hook's eyes and could instantly see Hook's expression change.

"Whoa, Rider. What's up?"

"Is Rapunzel…is she…"

"Spit it out, man."

Flynn shook his head and let out a short laugh. _Just ask him. It's probably all a hoax anyway._

"Is Rapunzel the princess of Corona?"

Hook looked at Flynn wide eyed and seemed as if he had just seen a ghost.

Flynn laughed once again, "I knew it wasn't true. Clarissa just claimed that Rapunzel was the princess of Corona to try and fuck with me. Crazy, right?"

"Yes."

Flynn smiled and shook his head. "That girl is relentless."

"No, Rider."

Flynn lifted a brow and looked at Hook. "What?"

Hook rubbed his palms together nervously and sighed, "I tried to tell you when you first mentioned that you had your sight set on some girl with brown hair who wore a lavender dress, but then after awhile I tried to protect you from the truth because I wanted her to tell you. I found it funny that she never did tell you though and instead acted like that part of her life didn't even exist."

Flynn continued to look at Hook, "What are you saying, Hook?" _Please don't say what I think you're going to say._

Hook sighed once again, "Rapunzel is the princess of Corona, Flynn. She's been declared as the princess for almost a year now."

Flynn's mouth slightly fell open in shock, "Wha –what? How could she –how is that possible?"

"I don't know the full story, Flynn. I just know that she was 'the lost princess' for a long time and suddenly she was found and brought back to her parents in order to take her rightful place as the princess. She took her position on the day after her eighteenth birthday apparently and the whole kingdom absolutely loves her."

_How could I have missed that?_ Flynn had never even heard of the princess of Corona ever being lost or returning only about a year ago in order to rule the kingdom with her parents. All he knew about the princess was that she could paint, she was sweet, and they released lanterns up in the night sky for her every year on her birthday, which Hook had told him months ago.

"Those lanterns I told you about, that are released for the princess. Well, they used to do that every year on her birthday because they hoped that Rapunzel would see them and come home. They must have worked this past time because she finally came home."

Flynn shook his head and looked at the floor. How could she be the princess? How could he have missed such a big detail in her life?

Suddenly it all made sense. Rapunzel's painting she had only shown him last night looking like an exact replica to the one of the wall, the way the locals moved out of her way and constantly smiled at her, the fact that she didn't want to kiss or be affectionate in public, everything.

_"So there's a little piece of you and a little piece of me."_

Rapunzel's words appeared in Flynn's mind once again and he understood the meaning behind them. Her painting had shown the lake and the lanterns. The lake being his favorite place in the kingdom and the lanterns were released for _her_ every year. A piece from each of their lives brought together.

How could she do this to him? How could she not have the decency to tell him the truth and just give it to him straight? He would have understood, right?

Flynn sighed. Would he really have understood? Would he have still tried to get with her if he had known that she was the princess? Probably not, because it was a dangerous territory. How could she not have realized that? She put him in a difficult position now and he wasn't too sure what he should do about it. He liked her, but this was more than he had bargained for. She just wasn't the person he thought she was. She had been keeping the truth away from him this whole time and he felt slightly betrayed. He had shown parts of him that he never even knew existed and now he felt like it was all for nothing. How could she do this?

Flynn furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair. "Why wouldn't she tell me?"

Hook shrugged, "I don't know, Rider. Maybe she wanted things to be normal."

"Normal!? Ha! Things could never be normal between us, especially now! She should have told me from the start! Or at least you should have told me! God damnit!" Flynn kicked a bar stool next to him, knocking it to the ground.

"Calm down, Rider. It's okay. I know she should have told you, but you still like her, right? She's still that same girl, but now you know she's a princess."

"Yeah, Hook! A princess! A fucking princess!" Flynn felt like punching a hole in the wall. How could now one have told him? How could he not have known?

"Rider…"

"Shit, I have to go meet her. What am I going to do? What do I say? God, I can't do this right now." Flynn shook his head and pressed his hands to his temples. He was losing it.

"Just go talk to her, Rider. That's all you can do. If I were you, I-"

"If you were me? Hah, if you were me you probably would wish that your fucking friend who knew that the girl you were falling for would have told you that she's the god damn princess!" Flynn walked to the door and opened it to leave. He knew that he had to at least get out of the Snuggly Duckling and away from Hook before things got messy.

"I thought you said that you weren't 'falling for her' and that you only liked her."

"Same fucking thing." Flynn slammed the door behind him and made his way to the bridge, only hearing his own heartbeat in his ears.

* * *

Flynn had managed to calm himself down a little as he neared the bridge. It was only a few minutes after seven and he knew that Rapunzel would already be waiting on the bridge for him, completely oblivious to the fact that Flynn now knew that she was the princess of Corona. The princess of the kingdom that he currently walked in. The rightful owner to the crown that currently sat in his satchel.

Flynn continued to walk toward the bridge and could then see Rapunzel sitting on one of the sidewalls, letting her feet dangle toward the water. He watched as she kicked her legs back and forth happily and smiled down at something green sitting next to her. From Flynn's spot it looked at if it was some sort of lizard, but he wasn't exactly sure. Whatever it was, she looked completely comfortable with touching it and her lips looked liked they were moving as if she were talking to it.

Flynn felt a smile slowly ease it's way onto his face and then look another step toward Rapunzel's spot on the bridge, but then saw the gleam of the lake from the corner of his eye. He remembered Clarissa's news only two hours ago and was then overcome with the same feelings he had when she had told him.

Rapunzel was the princess. Flynn was a thief. Not only had she been keeping something so important from him, but she also put him in a dangerous spot. If anyone was aware of Flynn's life choices they would probably threaten and hurt him until he stayed away from Rapunzel. It could have been a lot worse than it already was.

Plus, did she really respect him so little that she felt the need to keep such major news from him? He thought that they actually had something going here, but now he felt like he was mistaken. Obviously she didn't value him as a person as much as he thought she did.

Just then Rapunzel looked as if she were starting to glance in his direction, causing Flynn to throw himself behind a building wall in order to hide himself from her. He couldn't do it. He couldn't talk to her now and he wasn't sure when he would be able to. He needed to get out there.

Flynn made his way down the alleyway behind the building, stuffing his hands in his pockets and hanging his head. Maybe fleeing the kingdom with the Stabbington brothers and the crown wasn't such a bad idea.

* * *

"So you just left her there by herself? You didn't even go talk to her and make some sort of excuse?"

"What could I say, Hook? I was too pissed off to make up some excuse. I couldn't even think straight. I probably would have walked up to her and immediately started telling her off."

Flynn shook his head and looked down at the bar counter in front of him. He was currently seated at the bar of the Snuggly Duckling feeling confused and completely drained. How could the girl that he had been seeing forget to mention the fact that she was the princess? Sure there were things that he hadn't shared with her either, but nothing like that.

"I don't know, Flynn. I still think you should have talked to her."

Flynn pounded a fist on the counter, "I just couldn't, Hook. I couldn't bring myself to do it." The guards who had entered the bar only moments before now looked over at Flynn in order to make sure he wasn't going to cause any sort of scene. Ever since the princess' crown had gone missing, two guards had been assigned to hang out at the Snuggly Duckling every night in order to see if they could find anything suspicious. So far it didn't seem as though they had found anything, which was definitely a relief to Flynn.

"Well, you're going to have to talk to her at some point."

Just then the door to the pub was pushed open, whoever opened it was still covered by the door. Flynn noticed some of the customers' expressions who could see the person in the doorway and realized that they all looked completely baffled.

Who could it possibly be? The Stabbington brothers? They could be intimidating in some ways.

However, the person behind the door finally stepped completely into the pub and let the door shut behind them. Upon seeing whom the person was, Flynn could feel his mouth fall open a little and knew he wore the same expression as the other customers.

Rapunzel stood in front of the now closed door, looking annoyed, yet slightly nervous. She began to glance around the room at all the men staring at her and Flynn knew that she was looking for him.

Finally, Rapunzel's eyes met Flynn's and she narrowed hers in order to try to look intimidating. She then walked toward him until she was about two feet in front of him, then folding her arms across her chest.

"Hello, Flynn Rider."

Flynn was still in a state of shock. Rapunzel was here in the Snuggly Duckling? It was like seeing a sunflower in the middle of a field of dirt. She just looked out of place.

Flynn cleared his throat, "Rapunzel."

Rapunzel lifted an eyebrow, "That's it?"

Flynn shrugged.

Rapunzel uncrossed her arms and let them fall to her sides, "How come you didn't show up at the bridge tonight? You said you would and you never miss our plans."

Flynn shrugged again, "I was busy."

"You were…busy?" Rapunzel looked down and Flynn noticed her playing with something in her hands.

"Is that a frying pan?"

Rapunzel met Flynn's eyes once again and nodded.

"Why on Earth do you have a frying pan?"

Rapunzel furrowed her brow, "Well…well just in case I needed protection! I've never been to the Snuggly Duckling, but I've heard all the ruffians come here so I decided to bring protection!" Rapunzel swung the frying pan a little and then ended up hitting herself in the head. "Ouch," she gently rubbed the spot on her head where the pan had collided and made a pained face.

Flynn almost laughed and stood in order to kiss the spot, but he kept himself seated on his bar stool instead.

Rapunzel stopped rubbing the spot on her head and looked at Flynn with a confused expression. She seemed to search his eyes for a moment and then narrowed her own when she realized that he wasn't giving her anything to read. "Alright, Flynn Rider. You better tell me what's going on here or else."

"Or else what?"

"I'll be forced to use my frying pan!" Rapunzel held up her weapon in front of Flynn's face and gave him an annoyed look.

"Really?"

"Maybe…" Rapunzel removed the frying pan from his face and began to fiddle with it in her hands once again. "Why did you stand me up, Flynn? I thought I meant more to you than that…or did you finally get what you wanted and now you've decided to split?"

Flynn laughed, he was about to do exactly what he didn't want to earlier, but now there was no running from it.

"You thought you meant more? Jesus Christ, Rapunzel. I thought I meant more to you too, but I guess I don't considering you can't even tell me that you're the princess of Corona!" A couple of other men in the pub began to look over, wearing quizzical expressions.

Rapunzel took a step back and her mouth fell open, "Wha – what?"

"Yeah, I found out your little secret." Flynn shook his head and looked at her disgustedly.

"Flynn, I-"

"You lied to me? You don't respect me enough to tell me that information? You're embarrassed by me and don't want me in that part of your life? I get it, Rapunzel. Really, you don't have to explain." Flynn was being harsh and he wasn't exactly proud of it. Sure it felt good to express his feelings, but he didn't like fighting with her.

"That's not it at all! I just wanted this to be different. I thought you knew at first, and when I realized that you didn't, I-"

"Still didn't tell me."

Rapunzel opened her mouth to say something and then closed it.

"See, Rapunzel. You didn't tell me the truth even after you knew I didn't know. What kind of person does that? I thought you were different than that."

"Well you're not exactly Mr. Honesty either, Flynn. There are plenty of things that you've kept from me."

"Nothing like that, Rapunzel! That's on a whole other level!"

Rapunzel looked down at her hands and looked almost defeated. Flynn couldn't decide if her current state pleased him or made him slightly hate himself, but he had to stand his ground.

"I thought you were different, Rapunzel. I thought we had something real going on here, but I guess I was wrong." This didn't really sound like something Flynn Rider would normally say, but it was the truth. He had really liked her, but now he just felt so betrayed that he just couldn't let it go.

"What did you expect to happen when I found out you were the princess? That I would come running into your arms telling you how I hope I can be your prince charming and we can live happily ever after? Sorry to disappoint you."

Rapunzel shook her head, "No, I-"

"Thought I would be doing cartwheels and begging to meet your parents?"

"I just thought-"

"That I would tell you that I can put that all behind us and act like everything is still completely normal. Please, Rapunzel."

"I just thought you would understand." Rapunzel said weakly and looked passed Flynn. It was obvious that she wasn't in the mood to fight with him anymore. She could sure be feisty, but Flynn was relentless in this sort of thing.

Flynn scoffed, "Whatever." He then turned around in his stool in order to face the bar again, but while he was turning he knocked his satchel, which had been sitting on the bar, off the counter causing it to fall the ground. The satchel flap fell open so that the crown was now visible, causing Flynn's heart to skip a beat. Shit.

He quickly kicked the flap back over the crown and prayed that Rapunzel hadn't seen the contents of his satchel, but his prayers were not answered.

"What was that?" Rapunzel's voice came from behind him, sounding curious and slightly irritated.

"What was what?" Flynn turned around to face her and tried to appear completely calm.

Rapunzel gestured toward the bag with her frying pan, "What was in your satchel, Flynn?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

Flynn nodded, "Mhmm."

Rapunzel furrowed her brow and then nodded, "Okay."

"Okay," Flynn began to turn back around when Rapunzel quickly scooped up his satchel from the ground and opened the flap to expose her crown sitting inside.

Her eyes widened in disbelief and she lifted her eyes from the crown to Flynn, completely in shock.

"Is this my?"

Flynn stood up from the stool and held up his hands as he approached Rapunzel, "Rapunzel, it's not what you think. Please, just give me my satchel."

Rapunzel took a step back and held onto his satchel tightly, "You stole my crown!?"

Flynn winced as he looked from her to the guards in the opposite corner of the room, noticing that they were now looking right at him.

"Rapunzel, please. You don't understand."

"You…you used me. You stole my crown."

"No, I didn't use you."

"But the evidence is right here. It's sitting right in your satchel." Rapunzel gestured to her crown.

"Just give me my satchel back."

Flynn took another step toward her and Rapunzel immediately narrowed her eyes.

"How could you steal this from me? How long have you had this?"

"I didn't know it was yours."

"But you promised. You promised you were done stealing…for good."

"Yeah, well…"

Just then the guards walked toward Rapunzel and Flynn and grabbed the satchel from Rapunzel's hands. They examined the crown inside and then looked at one another, each giving the other a quick nod. Flynn was done for.

"Excuse me…Flynn Rider, is it?"

Flynn nodded and gave the guards a cold look.

"You're going to have to come with us."

Both of the guards stepped over so they were on the opposite sides of Flynn, the guard on his right putting his hands in handcuffs.

"You're under arrest for stealing the princess' crown. Resisting will only make matters worse."

Flynn didn't resist whatsoever and allowed the guards to lead him out of the Snuggly Duckling, only stopping when the guard handed Rapunzel back the satchel and nodded to her. "Your crown, princess."

Rapunzel nodded in response and then looked at Flynn, meeting his eyes.

"Flynn Rider."

"Princess."


	11. Chapter 11: Locked Away

Flynn paced his jail cell, stopping every so often to look out the small window provided or scuff his boot against the stone floor. His thoughts were so jumbled that he couldn't even begin to focus on the situation he had currently gotten himself into.

He had been in jail for three days now and there was no official word as to what they planned to do with him. He had no form of communication with anyone thus far and he was sure that he wasn't going to get any for a while. He was the thief of the princess' crown. A prized possession to the kingdom and especially to the princess herself. He felt a flame of anger flicker in his stomach. If she had just worn her crown like she was supposed to in the first place, he would have never been in this mess.

Flynn cursed under his breath and kicked the wall in front of him. The pain that arose in his toes was almost relaxing and Flynn felt the urge to kick the wall again, but then he heard the click of someone's boots coming toward his cell. He walked to the bars of his cell and gripped one in each hand, leaning his head out slightly to see who was coming.

All he could see were two big guards walking down the hall and he could barely make out some feet that looked at if they were shuffling behind them. Considering he was the only one occupying a cell in this particular part of the jail, he assumed that they were coming to talk to him. He wasn't disappointed as the guards stopped and moved so the head guard, who had been walking behind them, was revealed.

"Well, well, well, Rider. Looks like you're luck has finally ran out, my friend."

Flynn lifted a brow and eyed the guard. "As far as I'm concerned, you and I are not friends. Also, if you'd let me just explain, I'm sure I can help sort out this complete misunderstan-."

"Shut up, Rider."

Flynn lifted his brow once again and stared at the guard. Who did this guy think he was? Sure he was the head guard of Corona, but he didn't have to act like such a dick.

"You have nothing to explain. We have all of the evidence that we need. You've been stealing from people and shops ever since you stepped foot in Corona and even before then. We have no reason to not believe that you didn't steal the crown from the castle."

Flynn rolled his eyes, "Please, if I had been stealing the crown for myself I wouldn't have made such idiotic decisions and probably would have fled the kingdom right away. However, the Stabbington brothers, who are actually responsible for this whole mess, decided to make me hold onto the crown for a little while in order to protect themselves from getting caught!"

"Oh please, do you really expect me to believe you? Why wouldn't you just say no?"

"Because they didn't really give me much of a choice."

"So, what you're telling me is that these Stabbington brothers stole the crown from the castle room, came to you, threatened you until you accepted to carry around the crown until they could collect it from you and make their escape."

"Uh, yeah. Something like that."

Altogether the head guard and the other two guard with him began to laugh at him, clearly not believing a single word that he was saying. Flynn furrowed his brow in annoyance and slid his hands off of the bars, letting them fall to his sides.

"Forget I said anything," Flynn waved the guards off and turned his back to them so he could go take a seat on the bench provided in the corner of the cell.

"Hey wait, Rider," the head guard barely managed to speak threw a few more laughs, but Flynn still turned to see what it was that he wanted. Maybe they would actually let him go. "There's someone here to talk to you."

Flynn rolled his eyes and turned his back to the men once again.

"No thanks. I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone else." His voice was filled with impatience as he again made his way toward the bench.

"Sorry, pal. You can't just blow off the princess of Corona."

The mention of Rapunzel made Flynn stop in his tracks and turn around to completely face them. Without another word the guards waved down the hall and Flynn suddenly heard a soft patting noise that he figured was Rapunzel's bare feet hitting the stone floor.

Sure enough, moments later Rapunzel was standing in front of his cell, focusing her attention on the guards instead of him. Flynn couldn't help but smirk. Only a few days ago she would have probably done anything for him, but then again he probably would have done anything for her as well. Would he still do that for her now?

"He's all yours, Princess. We'll be right down the hall if you need anything."

"Thank you," Rapunzel's sweet and soft voice still sounded like music to Flynn's ears. He couldn't help but let his smile widen as he remembered the first time he heard her beautiful voice on the dock not that long ago. He couldn't help but feel captivated by her like he usually was. However, a moment later reality set in and Flynn remembered where he currently was and why he was there. He looked to the ground and furrowed his brow, realizing that for once in his life that he didn't want to talk to Rapunzel. He wished that he could just close his eyes and she would just decide to leave, but he knew that wouldn't be the case. Rapunzel was a stubborn thing and she wouldn't be going anywhere.

Flynn lifted his head to look back in front of him. Rapunzel stood before him, looking completely calm and patient. Her arms were crossed and she seemed to tilt her head to the side slightly as their eyes met.

"Why are you here?" Flynn spoke after a few moments of silence between the two.

Rapunzel blinked a couple of times and continued to just stare at him. It looked as if she was a little taken back with the way Flynn was addressing her.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"You wanted to talk to me?"

"Okay, more like I needed to talk you."

Flynn laughed and shook his head a little bit. "Rapunzel, I really don't have time for this. I have more important matters to worry about. You know, like the fact that my head is probably going to be taken off any day now?"

Rapunzel furrowed her brow and slowly shook her head at him. "I'm not sure what you think it is that I want to talk to you about, but I'm trying to help you here."

"Help me? Why would you help me?"

Rapunzel uncrossed her arms and reached an arm out to touch one of the bars that separated them. Flynn suddenly thought back to his bed that they shared only a few days ago, when she was only a pieces of fabric away from him. There was no doubt in his mind that these same thoughts were also what Rapunzel was thinking about.

"I'm a good person, Flynn. I know that you probably don't think so, but I'm not as bad as you probably think I am." Rapunzel pulled her eyes away from the bar she was currently sliding her eyes down and met Flynn's once again. "I'd like to think that there's some good in you as well. That's why I came here to offer you your freedom."

Flynn eyes widened in surprise. She wanted to give him his freedom? She was going to let him go even though he stole her crown? Even after he treated her so poorly after he found out she was the princess? After everything that he had done, she was just going to let him walk our of here?

"You're…you're letting me go?

Rapunzel kept her eyes locked on Flynn's and slowly nodded.

"Is this some sort of trick?"

Rapunzel lifted a brow in confusion. "Why on Earth would I trick you? For goodness sake, Flynn. I'm trying to offer you your freedom here. The chance to keep your head and walk the streets again, and yet you have the nerve to ask me if there's a catch? You really need to learn to trust people more."

"Maybe I would be more willing to trust you if you didn't lie to me about who you really were the whole time we were together." Flynn's tone was flat and harsh. He wanted to hurt her, but he clearly hadn't.

"Don't play the victim, Flynn. You lied to me too. You broke a promise. I don't know about you, but I take promises very seriously. You told me that you weren't going to steal anything anymore and then you go and steal one of the kingdom's most prized possessions? How could you?"

"I didn't! The Stabbington's brothers threatened my life. They said I had to help them steal the crown or I was basically done for. If you just wore your stupid crown like you're supposed to then I would have never been in this mess."

"That's not true. No matter what it was the Stabbington's brothers would have found something precious for you to steal and take care of, landing you in the same exact spot."

Flynn opened his mouth in order to fight her on this, but he found that he had nothing to say. He slowly shook his head and let out a soft sigh. She was right. The Stabbington brothers had been thieving longer than Flynn had and they knew what to take and where to take it from. Thieving was practically in their blood. If Rapunzel had worn her crown they would have found another valuable item to take or tried to figure out the perfect time of day that they could still steal the crown. It was unavoidable.

"Rider, I'm letting you have another chance. Now I suggest that you accept my offer, quit this whole thieving nonsense, and move on with your life. You need to find some sort of dream and just focus your life on that."

"A dream? You think the key to a better life is a dream?" Flynn lifted a brow in amusement as he just stared into Rapunzel's green eyes.

A small smile suddenly played onto her lips and she nodded. "I do. A dream is what I have to thank for where I am today."

Flynn furrowed his brow, showing her that he didn't understand, but he wanted her to continue.

Rapunzel let out a soft sigh and tucked a hair behind her ear. "When I was a baby a woman, Mother Gothel, stole me from my crib in the middle of the night. She fled the castle and made her way across the bridge to the forest. There within the forest was a high tower where she locked me up and convinced me that the outside world was this selfish and cruel place." Rapunzel paused a moment and stared at the ground. She looked as if she were contemplating something and Flynn couldn't help but feel a little concerned. He almost wanted to reach his hand out and stroke her cheek to let her know that it was okay.

"You see, my hair used to be golden blonde. Not only was it blonde, but it was also 70 feet long. I know that's hard to believe, but somehow my hair had the power to heal the sick and injured if I just sang this certain song. If someone wrapped my hair around their injury or brushed it while I sang, then they would be healed or become younger. That's why Gothel wanted to lock my away and keep me to herself. I never got to go outside or experience the world for myself. I stayed inside that tower for eighteen years, and the only thing that kept me going were these lanterns that were released in the night sky every year on my birthday. For some reason I could just feel that they were meant for me. I dreamed that one I could leave my tower and go see the floating lanterns in person. I had to know what they were. So the day before my eighteenth birthday I told Gothel I wanted these certain paints that would take her 3 days to get, but she accepted and when she left I escaped from my tower and traveled to the kingdom. When I got to the kingdom and saw the floating lights on my birthday I realized that they were in fact for me and that I was the lost princess."

After Rapunzel finished her story there was a long silence between the two of them as they stared at one another. Flynn didn't know what to say or if he should actually believe any of what she just told him. Either she had a wild imagination or what she way saying was actually true.

"What happened to your hair then?"

"I cut it when she was trying to take me away."

"Why was she trying to take you away?"

"I found out that I was the lost princess and told her that she was never going to use my hair again."

"How did she know in the first place that your hair had magical powers or whatever?"

"There used to be this flower that could heal the sick and injured as well, and when my mother got sick while she was pregnant with me they found the flower and gave it to my mother in order to heal her. Gothel had already been using the flower for hundreds of years in order to keep herself young. So when the flower was taken from her, she took revenge by taking me."

"Uh huh…." Flynn felt completely baffled. All of this was a lot to handle, but for some reason he could tell that it was all true. He could feel the honesty of her words and the certainty behind her story.

"That's why I don't wear my crown. I grew up without it and I just want the chance to blend in with everyone. I want to have some of the freedom that I never had before." Rapunzel shrugged and looked down at the ground.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I don't know. I just thought it would help you understand."

"I wish you would have told me before. I would have understood then too."

Rapunzel let out a small laugh and shook her head. "Come on, Flynn. Let's face it. Everything that happened between us never would have happened if you had known I was the princess beforehand. You would probably think of me as a walking disease instead."

Once again, she was right. He hated it, but there was no denying it. Rapunzel and him together was just a terrible combination status wise, but that didn't mean that he didn't want her. Flynn realized that he wasn't angry with her anymore. Instead, he felt bad about everything he has said and done. Obviously she had been through a lot so far in her life and it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Technically neither was Flynn's, but he had already come to terms with that.

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel." Flynn was sorry. For everything that had happened between them. He wished that he could have been more civil about the way he had reacted to her and he wished that things between them could just be simple again. He wanted to be back in his bed with her, holding her close to him. He wanted to kiss her again or even just look into her green eyes and know that she still cared for him as she used to.

Rapunzel looked back up to meet Flynn's eyes and parted her lips slightly, giving him the perfect view of her small gap in her teeth.

"I'm sorry, too."

Rapunzel reached in between the bars in his cell and placed her hand on Flynn's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. She then retracted her hand and began to turn away from his jail cell.

"Wait, Rapunzel…"

She turned back to look at Flynn, curiosity filling her eyes.

"You said that the floating lanterns were your dream before. What's your new dream?"

Rapunzel gave him a weak smile, "My new dream didn't end up working out. I guess I have to find a new dream as well." She looked down at the ground for a moment and then brought her eyes back up to meet Flynn's. "Someone will be down here soon to release you. I hope you have a happy life, Flynn. Goodbye." Her voice sounded small as she said her goodbye, making a rush run through Flynn.

"Goodbye, Rapunzel." Flynn's goodbye almost sounded equally as small as he watched her turn and make her way down the hall.

When he finally heard the door leading out of the hallway close, indicating that Rapunzel was gone, Flynn closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on one of the bars in front of him.

It was him. He had been her new dream.

And she was still his.


	12. Chapter 12: Rude Awakening

"I don't know what the princess was thinking when she decided to give you your freedom, but orders are orders." The head guard reached for Flynn's hands and quickly unlocked the cuffs on his wrists. Once they were off, Flynn rubbed at each wrist to ease the bite of the metal.

He was free. He wouldn't be losing his head and he wouldn't spend his life behind bars. Rapunzel had decided to let him go free.

"Listen, Rider. You're walking on thin ice here. If we catch you stealing even the smallest button, you're back in the slammer and your head is coming off. Got it?"

Flynn rolled his eyes and nodded. "Got it. Trust me, I wouldn't even dream of thieving again."

The guard stepped a little closer to him, his expression seemed to become a little colder. "One more thing. You stay away from the princess. She doesn't need scum like you in her life. You'll only make her life worse."

Flynn tried his best to look collected by his words, but all of it was like a stab in his stomach. A couple of days ago he would have had no problem leaving Rapunzel alone. Hell, he probably would have cleared out of Corona and never wanted to see her again. That had all changed though. Ever since they had talked down in the jail and she had really opened up to him, he felt those same emotions he had before everything went wrong. He no longer blamed her for getting him thrown into jail because he knew it was his own fault. She had been the reason he had been caught, but she only reacted the way she should have.

Flynn swallowed hard and gave the guard a quick nod before letting his eyes fall to the floor. "Got it."

"Good. Now get the hell out of here."

The guard gave Flynn a little shove and chuckled lightly before he slipped back through the castle door.

"Asshole," Flynn huffed.

After standing there for a moment, Flynn rubbed his wrists a little and then started walking in a random direction. He wasn't exactly sure where to go or what to do anymore. He was sure that the guards would have their eye on him no matter where he went and leaving Corona was probably his only option. However, he didn't want to leave Corona. There was no denying that his reason for sticking around was Rapunzel, but he knew that was foolish. She wanted nothing to do with him and she was off to find her new dream, so shouldn't he do the same? Maybe he should pack up his stuff and go look for a new kingdom to call home. He could start all over and become a better person. Quit thieving and find a nice girl to settle down with. That shouldn't be hard, right?

Flynn shook his head as he continued walking. Of course it was going to be hard. Leaving Corona and finding a new place to live was simple. Meeting a new girl would be easy due to all his experience in that field. However, he knew that it really wasn't that simple or easy. Rapunzel was here and he would never meet another girl like her. Not because she used to have magic hair that would glow when she sang or any of that. It was because she was the most amazing girl he had ever met due to her courage to dream and follow those dreams, or her generosity, or her simple humming, or her cute freckles that laid on her cheeks, or the fact that when he looked at her she instantly made him feel like life was good and he was always going to be okay. It was as if he was complete when he was with her. He had spent his life thieving, running, hurting women, being a cocky son of a bitch, etc. and Rapunzel came into his life and made him realize that this isn't who he wanted to be. Flynn Rider wasn't supposed to be some sort of joke and criminal, he was supposed to be a brave hero who people admired and children looked up to. Where on Earth had he gone wrong?

He had made a promise to Rapunzel, yet he was so quick to break that promise. How could he have been such an idiot? He betrayed the person who had meant the most to him, but he didn't take it serious enough because he was too busy trying to deny the strong feelings he had for her.

Flynn stopped and closed his eyes tightly in order to try to get a hold of himself. The only thing he felt like doing was slamming his head against a wall or yelling due to how stupid he had been. Instead, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes, feeling a little more put together. When his eyes were fully open he realized that he was standing in the middle of the market place and everyone was looking at him.

Why were they staring? Were they freaked out because he had just stopped and shut his eyes? Were they worried for his well being?

It slowly hit Flynn that they were staring at him because they had surely heard what had happened at the Snuggly Duckling only days ago. They knew that he had stolen the crown and he was a walking hazard. He wasn't one to be trusted in their eyes.

Flynn felt the urge to reassure all those around him that he wasn't dangerous whatsoever and that he wasn't the one responsible for the crime. However, he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Once these people got something in their heads, there was no use in trying to convince them otherwise.

He had to talk to someone though. He felt like he was losing his mind and the only thing that would help was talking to someone who would believe him or wouldn't consider him as a complete monster.

Flynn looked down and quickly made his way away from the market place and down the walkway. He knew just who to talk to.

* * *

Flynn opened the door to the Snuggly Duckling and peaked his head inside. He was glad to find that the place was empty except he could hear the sound of someone shuffling around in the back. He slipped through the door and closed it behind him, hoping that no one had seen him walk in and was planning to come and jump him. Sure ruffians and thugs hung out at the Snuggly Duckling, but their crimes never involved them doing something against the King, Queen, or Princess. Everyone in the kingdom loved them and even the worst of the worst wouldn't dream to do anything that would hurt them. Except the Stabbington brothers who obviously hadn't been around for long.

Flynn made his way to the back of the pub to where Hook's office was located and knocked on the door a couple of times. He heard a grunt from the other side telling him to come in and smoothly opened the door. Hook had his back to him and was scratching the top of his head, looking as though he were trying to remember something important.

Suddenly Flynn wasn't sure if coming to see Hook was such a good idea. What if Hook was also pissed at Flynn for what he had done? What if he just threw him out or tried to fight him? Flynn looked behind him, contemplating if he should make a break for it or not.

"Rider?"

Flynn turned around to find Hook staring at him, a little wide eyed and his mouth slightly hung open.

"But I thought you were in-"

"Rapunzel…the princess let me go."

"The princess? She's the one who wanted you locked away in the first place. Your head should be on a platter by now."

"Well, it's not."

Hook gave him a look as if he were uncertain about what Flynn was telling him. It was clear that he didn't exactly believe that Rapunzel had agreed to give Flynn his freedom and Hook probably thought Flynn had escaped somehow and came straight to the Snuggly Duckling.

"Look, Hook. I'm not making this up. I've never lied to you before and I'm not lying to you now. She really did decide to give me my freedom and this is the only place I felt I could go. Everyone out there thinks I'm some sort of monster and that I'm just going to attack them all or something."

Hook's expression changed as Flynn spoke and Flynn could tell that Hook was now more relaxed and looked as if he believed him. It was a relieving feeling for Flynn. He felt that he actually had someone on his side and that's all really wanted and needed right now.

"Sit down, Rider. I think we need to talk about what has been going on here."

* * *

"So that's it. That's everything that happened between Rapunzel and me and how the Stabbington brothers convinced me to help them steal that stupid crown and carry it around for them."

"Wow. Why didn't you just take the crown to the authorities right after and claim that the Stabbington brothers stole it? Then they would have been punished for their crime instead of you. It would have made everything easier."

"Would it have, Hook? You know I already have a reputation for thieving and not always being completely honest. If I turned in that crown they wouldn't even have listened to what I have to say. They would have just locked me up and assumed that I did it and who knows if Rapunzel would have helped me then. I just never felt like it was an option. I figured that my only way out of this mess was to just keep the crown safe, give it to them, and then let them be on their way without anyone knowing I was tangled up in all this. I thought that I was in the clear."

Hook folded his arms across his chest and just nodded at Flynn's words. The two had been seated at Hook's desk for about an hour now discussing what had happened between Flynn and Rapunzel over the past couple of months and how Flynn got mixed up in the crown scandal.

"You're lucky that Rapunzel saved your head, Rider. She could have just let you die."

"I know." Flynn looked down at his hands and furrowed his brow. He owed his life to Rapunzel and he wish that he could talk to her again. To thank her for letting him go and to just tell her how he was feeling, but he knew he wouldn't get that chance. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him and none of the guards would let him get even within 500 feet of her.

"She's an amazing girl, Hook. She gave me my freedom when I surely didn't deserve it and I'll never be able to understand why."

"Yes, you will. I think that you do now, but you're just too afraid to admit it to yourself."

Flynn looked up to meet Hook's eyes, but kept his brow furrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Rider. You and I both know that Rapunzel is a very compassionate and selfless girl. Part of the reason she let you go is because Rapunzel cares about everyone. She would never let the guards take off someone's head. That's not her style. Plus, there's obviously something going on between you two and she would never let them do that to you. Flynn, I think that Rapunzel loves-"

"No, stop right there." Flynn put a hand up and closed his eyes. "Don't even say it, Hook. It's not true and I don't even want to think about that."

Flynn opened his eyes to see a sad expression across Hook's face.

"Rapunzel is compassionate and selfless, but that's it. She let me go because she's a good person and she probably even cares about people she hadn't met before. She would never hurt anyone and I'm just another one of those people she decided to save. Even after I hurt her and broke her trust." Flynn looked down again and shook his head slowly. "That's it. She was just saving another person. She's a beautiful person, inside and out, and by letting me go…I don't know. She's just even more beautiful. She's always been beautiful and she will always be beautiful. It has nothing to do with her loving me." Flynn's voice caught in his throat for a second and he looked up at Hook, pressing his lips firmly together.

"You're wrong, Rider. She does love you…and you love her."

"No, Hook. I don't. I don't love Rapunzel and there's never going to be anything between us."

Flynn stood up from his chair and made his way toward the door. He didn't want to waste anymore of Hook's time and the only thing he could think about doing was leaving the kingdom.

"Rider!"

Flynn opened the door to let himself out of Hook's office, but couldn't manage to make it through the door due to someone blocking his path.

"Can I help you?" Flynn was already annoyed enough and he didn't have time for this.

Slowly, the man turned around and Flynn could make out someone standing behind him. Sure enough, both of the Stabbington brothers were now staring down at him, wearing eager smiles that made Flynn take a step back into the room.

"Hello, Rider," the first Stabbington brother spoke and raised his eyebrows in a menacing manner.

"Who are these guys, Flynn?"

Flynn could hear Hook stand up from his chair behind him and start moving toward him.

"No one, Hook. Just sit back down."

"Come on, Rider. We're not just no one. We are friends, aren't we?"

The Stabbington brothers managed to push their way into the room and shut the door behind them.

Flynn scoffed and shook his head," Friends? You have got to be kidding me. I almost got my head chopped off because of you two."

"Wait…" Hook pointed toward the brothers and furrowed his brow at Flynn, "These are the Stabbington brothers? The two assholes that got you thrown in jail?"

"That's a little judgmental, don't you think? We haven't even been formally introduced. Hook, is it?" The first Stabbington brother held out his hand to Hook, but Hook only gave him a cold look.

"Alright, I can tell that this isn't going to be a light hearted conversation."

"Hah, yeah. That ship has sailed." Flynn narrowed his eyes at the brother and crossed his arms across his chest. "So, what do you want?"

The Stabbington brothers took a seat in some of the chairs in the office and exchanged a smile.

"Why do you always assume that we want something, Rider? What if we just wanted to catch up?"

"Not your style, Stabbington. Now quit the act and tell me why you're really here."

The brother laughed and just shrugged. "You got me, Rider. Alright, look, we know that you lost our crown and you got thrown in the slammer. We're willing to forgive you for that, but that doesn't help us here. Now we're out a crown and we need something else in place of that loss. So we're going to need your services again."

"Funny. You think that I would still help you? After all the things that you've put me through? You're fucking insane. You can threaten me all you want, but there is no way I'm helping either of you."

"Look, pretty boy, we know you lost your girlfriend and everything and you're still a little heart broken, but that's not entirely our fault. There's always more girls out there. Girls who are willing to actually put out." The Stabbington brothers begin to laugh together, making Flynn grow even more annoyed.

"She wasn't my girlfriend." Flynn says behind clenched teeth.

"Well, then this should be easy for you. See, we met a very interesting lady not that long ago. Black curly hair, gray eyes, very beautiful, granted she's aged a bit so she's not exactly in her prime. Anyway, she is interested in meeting you and requires some of your help."

"My help? Why on earth would she need my help?"

"Well, because she's looking to capture a princess and she figures that you're the best bait around."

"What?"

"Does the name Gothel mean anything to you?"

"Gothel?" Flynn furrowed his brow and looked down at his feet. He knew that he had heard the name before, but he wasn't exactly sure where.

"Gothel?" Flynn had almost forgotten that Hook was still in the room with them and looked over to him now.

"Do you know her, Hook?"

"That's…that's the lady who kept Rapunzel locked up in that tower all those years. She's…why…she's dead."

"Dead? Hah, sorry, good sir, but you are highly mistaken. Gothel is very much alive."

Flynn suddenly felt alarmed and looked over to the brothers once again.

"That's the woman who needs my assistance." He hadn't said it as a question, but the first brother still nodded.

"Think about it, Rider. You could get revenge on that little princess who put you in jail in the first place. It's a win-win."

"Excuse me? Rapunzel may have been the one to find the crown in my satchel, but you two are the ones who made me hold onto it. You're the ones who put me in jail, not her."

"Believe whatever you want, Rider. At the end of the day she's still the one who called the guards and made them take you away."

Flynn clenched his teeth once again. He wanted nothing more than to just beat the living shit out of both of them, but he was half their size and while he was quicker then both of them, he definitely wasn't stronger.

"So, do we have a deal?" The brothers stood and the first brother held his hand out to Flynn.

Flynn stared at it for a second and then knocked it away. "No, we do not have a deal. In fact, you two better clear the hell out of town because the minute you step out of this place you're going to be wanted men and there's going to be no place for you in Corona." Flynn opened the door to the office in order to show the brothers out, but of course it wasn't that easy.

The brothers just laughed and looked at each other.

"We thought that you would make this more difficult then it had to be, Rider. If you really think that you're going to win this one though, you're mistaken. I just hope that you can live with the fact that you were the reason why no one will ever be able to find the princess every again, including you."

"What-" Before Flynn could even finish his statement he felt something hit the side of his head so hard that it made his vision go blurry and caused him to fall to the ground. Once on the ground, he attempted to get up, but only felt something smash into his head again, making his world go completely black.

* * *

Flynn opened his eyes to a dark room and was instantly confused about where he was. His head was currently throbbing and there was a loud ringing in his ears, which only made his head hurt worse.

What had happened? Why was he currently laying on the floor in the worst pain he had ever felt in his life? Last he could remember he had been in Hook's office.

He was in Hook's office.

It all started coming back to him. He remembered the Stabbington brothers and their ridiculous deal. He remembered being hit in the head right after he had told them to get out. They must have knocked him out cold and just slipped out of the room. Why had they just left him here though? They could have taken him with them and still used him as bait in order to lure in Rapunzel. Where had they gone?

Flynn slowly sat up and put his head in his hands, trying to stop the room from spinning.

Where was Hook then?

Flynn leaned to this side slightly in order to look around Hook's desk, but he didn't see anyone there. He had to get out of here. He needed to find Hook and figure out what the hell was going on.

Flynn managed to get on his feet and slowly made his way out of Hook's office to find Hook standing behind the bar, with his back against the wall, his head down, and eyes closed.

"Hook?" Flynn croaked. It felt like he hadn't spoken in years.

Hook opened his eyes and turned to look at Flynn.

"Rider."

"What happened?"

"I tried to stop them, Rider. I really did."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Stabbington brothers. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me out as well. They're gone."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No, Flynn. It's not."

Just then the door to the Snuggly Duckling opened and Flynn saw someone walking quickly toward him, but he couldn't make out who it was. Then as they got about five feet in front of him he could make out that it was Clarissa and he couldn't help but stumble backward a little. She was one of the last people he wanted to see right now.

"Clarissa, what are you doing-"

"Flynn, it's Rapunzel." Flynn could suddenly hear the sobs in Clarissa's voice and he could see the tears running down her face.

"What?"

"She's been taken. Rapunzel has been taken and no one knows where she is or who has taken her."

All at once, Flynn felt like his whole world had suddenly collapsed and he felt as if he were going to pass out again.

"The guards went to check her room earlier, but she wasn't there. They can't find her anywhere and they know she didn't leave the castle because she always has to inform the King, Queen, and all the guards first. She's gone, Flynn."

"They think I took her don't they?" Flynn looked into Clarissa's eyes and furrowed his brow. The room was spinning again.

She nodded to him and began to cry harder.

Flynn felt the weight of the world just continuing to press down on him and he didn't know what to do. They all probably thought he had something to do with Rapunzel's disappearance even if he said he did not. He was screwed either way.

He didn't really care about that though. All he truly cared about was that Rapunzel was gone and no one had any idea where she was. His whole world was lost.

"Flynn, I know you didn't take her, but I thought maybe you would have some sort of idea where she could be. You knew her better than anyone."

Flynn shook his head slowly, "I have-"

Then it slowly hit him. The Stabbington brothers had taken her to Gothel. Rapunzel had once mentioned never needing shoes where she grew up and she was always running around in the trees. That had to be some sort of lead, right?

"I might know where she is."


End file.
